


The Hoodie Borrower

by name_me_regret



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Best Friends, Bisexual Miles Morales, Flash Thompson Being A Jerk, Flash Thompson Redemption, Gay Harley Keener, Heteronormative beliefs, He’s Just A Mess, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Irondad, Kid Peter Parker, M/M, May Parker and Peter Parker mourning Ben Parker, Miles Morales is a mess, Ned Leeds as a kid, New Friendships, No beta we die like real women/men, Oblivious Peter Parker, POV Flash Thompson, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker and Harry Osborn are childhood friends, Peter Parker having a sexuality crisis, Peter Parker is a Damsel in Distress, Peter Parker starting out as Spider-Man, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Spider Bite Peter Parker, Pre-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Tumblr Prompt, canonical death, dealing with grief, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2020-11-08 14:09:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 23,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20836763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/name_me_regret/pseuds/name_me_regret
Summary: Peter has a little collection of hoodies he’sstolenborrowed from his friends and family...





	1. Harry’s Hoodie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dianasaurus_rex101](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dianasaurus_rex101/gifts).

> So, this is from [this post](https://disasterwiccan.tumblr.com/tagged/my-best-friend-is-letting-me-keep-her-hoodie) on tumblr by [@Disasterwiccan](https://disasterwiccan.tumblr.com/post/187632796560/fuck-do-yall-want-a-hc-list-post-about-peter) on Peter stealing everyone’s hoodies. I read it and this happened. I’m not sure about how good this will be, but I’ll try my best even I have one WIP and a sequel for Martian Child waiting to be written. My muses latch onto what they want, like Second Star To The Right (SSTTR). They latched on and I wrote four chapters (which then turned into five) lol So, yeah. Lemme know what ya think.
> 
> Also, I don’t want to reveal who is going to be in future chapters, so I’ll add the character tags as I post chapters for that particular chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter comes back to school hoping to return his best friend’s hoodie...

**The Hoodie Borrower**  
**Chapter One:** _Harry’s Hoodie_

\- - - -

_“Now the day bleeds_  
_Into nightfall_  
_ And you're not here_  
_ To get me through it all_  
_ I let my guard down_  
_ And then you pulled the rug_  
_ I was getting kinda used to_  
_ being someone you loved._

_And I tend to close my eyes_  
_ when it hurts sometimes_  
_ I fall into your arms_  
_ I'll be safe in your sound_  
_ 'til I come back around...”_

~Someone You Loved - Lewis Capaldi

\- - - -

Peter grinned as he ran into the building on the first day of school after winter break, his new Iron Man back pack bouncing behind him. His aunt and uncle had surprised him with it and the backpack was the single most coolest thing he’d ever owned. He couldn’t wait to show it off to Harry, since both of them were the biggest Iron Man fans, even if he knew Harry’s dad didn’t like Tony Stark.

He looked around, frowning when he didn’t see the other boy, whose hair was even curlier than his own. Harry was very popular among the other kids, especially the girls that cooed and wanted to hold his hand. It was kind of gross, but even Peter could admit there were some girls that were pretty. He just didn’t want to hold hands with them.

That Harry was his best friend made Peter feel super important, even if he was an orphan being raised by his aunt and uncle. He didn’t know why the other kids pegged him as an outcast for that, but that hadn’t stopped Harry from being his friend. They had met shortly after starting first grade, and now were in fifth. After six more months they’d graduate and next year would start middle school. After that it was high school and then college.

Peter couldn’t imagine that far ahead, and he was content to just concentrate on fifth grade and enjoying the last few months of elementary school with his best friend, Harry. He decided to sit in his usual seat, making sure to save Harry’s seat in case he was just running late.

He checked his backpack and made sure his friend’s hoodie was still in there. It was black with a cool cat design and a word he couldn’t pronounce too well, Gucci. The other had lent it to him just before they’d gone on holiday. Peter had spilled milk on his and Harry had handed over his own since he knew Peter got cold pretty easy, telling him that he would just have his driver bring him another when he came to pick him up.

Harry’s dad was rich but he had let him come to public school, since before her death, his mom had wanted him to have a normal childhood as possible. They’d kept the reporters from finding him by enrolling him under Harold Lyman, which was his mother’s maiden name.

He’d of course told Peter his real name, and Peter had agreed to keep it a secret always. Harry Osborn.

_’That’s what best friends do! We keep each other’s secrets!’_

_’Yeah! You’re the best friend ever, Peter!’_

The ten year old smiled happily to himself, pulling out Harry’s hoodie and folding it neatly on the desk in front of him. His aunt had washed it and used extra softener so it would be extra soft and when he pressed it to his nose he could smell the scent of flowers. It wasn’t the same kind of detergent Harry was probably used to, he said his clothes were all dry cleaned, which he didn’t know how one could clean it without wetting it.

His head perked up when someone walked in, but sighed when he saw that it was just Flash. Usually, the other left him alone because he was scared of Harry, who had punched him in recess the first time he tried to bully Peter. However, whenever Harry was out for whatever reason, he started anew and worse than before. It almost seemed like he was making up for lost time. Peter didn’t know what his problem with him was.

_’It’s cause you’re smarter than him and he’s jealous because he’s so stupid,’_ Harry had told him. The other’s insults didn’t hurt as much after hearing that, even if it didn’t stop them. If anything, Flash was meaner and it led Peter to believe that he’d heard, or someone had told him about Harry’s words.

Peter didn’t think he was better or smarter than anyone, but he knew that things were easier for him when it came to learning. Even Harry, who was also smart, struggled with some things that were easy for Peter. It was alright to help him, because he knew his friend wouldn’t take advantage of the help he gave him, and in turn when there were things he didn’t understand that Harry helped him with.

He frowned when the bell rang for the start of homeroom and there was still no sign of his friend. _’Maybe he’s just running late... he’ll probably be in for our first class,_ Peter assured himself.

When lunch came around and there was no sign of him, Peter started to worry as he sat alone. It was possible that he was sick, so maybe he would be in tomorrow. He knew that at times his dad took him to Europe with him during the holidays and at times he was late coming back, and he hardly ever saw him during those times. They couldn’t communicate too much because even if Harry had a cell phone, Peter didn’t have one.

At the end of the school day, he approached his teacher timidly, wondering if the man would reprimand him about asking of Harry.

“Sir, may I speak to you?” Peter asked. He was an English teacher and he knew he’d correct him if he didn’t speak properly.

“What do you need, Mr. Parker? Did you not understand the homework assignment?” the man asked impatiently, a frown on his face. He wasn’t a very nice teacher and was often impatient with the more timid students that didn’t speak up in class, or the immigrants that were barely learning to speak English.

“I was wondering if you know why Harry Lyman didn’t come to school? Is he sick?” Peter asked, because he wanted to make sure his friend was alright.

The man stopped packing his stuff and gave him an exasperated look. “If you’d been paying attention, Mr. Parker, you’d have heard that Mr. Lyman has changed schools.”

Peter was left stunned by the man’s words, mouth dropping open in shock. “What... but... w-when?” The ten year old wasn’t able to come up with words to describe the devastation he feels at realizing his only friend has moved to another school, and didn’t tell him anything.

Much later in his room, he cried his eyes out as he hugged the hoodie that Harry left behind, that he was never able to return. Maybe one day they’d meet again, and Harry would be able explain why he went away.

For now, all he had left to remember his best friend was a black hoodie with a funny cat, and an even funnier name printed on it.-

\- - - -


	2. Ned’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new kid moves to Midtown...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was mostly written before the first one, but I felt that this was the right place for it. I love Ned Leeds, and he doesn’t get the appreciation he deserves. So, of course I was going to write a chapter about him and the start of his and Peter’s friendship.

**The Hoodie Borrower**  
_Chapter Two_

\- - - -

_“Fall is here, hear the yell_  
_ Back to school, ring the bell_  
_ Brand new shoes, walking blues_  
_ Climb the fence, books and pens_  
_ I can tell that we are going to be friends_  
_ I can tell that we are going to be friends...”_

~We’re Going To Be Friends - The White Stripes

\- - - -

Peter had first become friends with Ned in Middle School when his family had moved to New York from Hawaii. He’d come in two months into the school year, with a brand new winter coat and a slightly stricken expression on his face. At the time, he didn’t know his name because he hadn’t been at school when he had first started, having been sick with a bad cold due to the weather change. His Aunt May and Uncle Ben tried their best, but at times with Peter’s medical problems, things could get tough.

So, when Peter came back, he saw the new kid and had brightened up, thinking he could be friends with him. He hadn’t been influenced by Flash, so Peter could have his first friend since the end of Elementary, when Harry had moved away to start at a private school. When he tried to speak with him, he hadn’t even spoken, at least not directly at him. “I miss the beach,” he had just said, not bothering to turn away from where he was staring out the window. The trees had lost their leaves and there was a sprinkling of snow falling, which would worsen by the end of the month.

Flash had walked in then and started to make animal noises whenever he opened his mouth to try and speak to him again. The new kid had turned with a confused frown and Peter had fled before saying anything else to him, flushing in embarrassment. He kept it up and Peter wound up not speaking to him for the rest of November, or December before they went on winter break. The teachers (where he had Flash in his class) had been giving him strange looks whenever he didn’t raise his hand when they asked the class to answer a question, but his grades hadn’t dropped so they had let it go.

That year, both his uncle and his aunt’s Christmas bonuses had been enough for them to finally take a trip. So, they had visited May’s family in Florida, who lived in a small place called Homestead, and from there Miami beach wasn’t too far, about an hour. It was the first time Peter had ever seen the ocean, and the sand was warm underneath his feet.

He found a queen conch shell there, hidden among the shallow water, and it was light brown like the sand on the outside, and the inside was such a pretty pink color. His Aunt’s family told him that it was a lucky find, but it wasn’t allowed to take the conch shells from the beach so he put it back. However, when he got to his Aunt’s nephews house, one of the smaller boys handed it to him. He had taken it and no one had noticed, and he didn’t know any better. They’d given it to Peter since he had found it, and he had figured they’d get into more trouble trying to take it back, so he kept it.

His aunt and uncle only had a week vacation, so they left after five days of good memories, plenty of pictures and one contraband conch shell. They’d arrived three days before Nee Years, and the rest of his winter vacation was spent alone in the apartment while his guardians worked, the old lady that lived in the apartment next door keeping an eye on the thirteen year old.

The transition from warm weather to freezing cold was bone-jarring they it made him ache. He put the conch shell up to his ear and could swear he heard the sound of the ocean. Peter missed the ocean, and the sand and the sun, and he had only been there a few days. Then he remembered the new kid was from Hawaii and he couldn’t imagine how much he missed the beach after having lived with it his whole life, and then moving to the concrete jungle. As he thought of the other and how he had thought of making him his friend, he looked at the conch shell, and an idea formed in his head.

He came to school with the shell in a box, ready to give it to the new kid and maybe they could be friends. As soon as he walked in, he saw that Flash was already in his seat and his eyes immediately went to Peter when he walked in. Peter saw his mean smile and knew he hadn’t forgotten his game of making animal noises whenever Peter tried to speak. He‘d been unlucky to have him in his homeroom every year since the beginning of middle school, just after Harry left. However, he was prepared for that in the form of a note inside the box.

Peter saw that the new kid was sitting in his seat, wearing the new jacket from before as if he hadn’t been out in it at all. The trees outside were still covered in snow and it was blisteringly cold, so Peter could understand his morose expression. He didn’t like the cold too much, because of his oxygen deficiency, he tended to get colder than usual. Even so, he didn’t tell his aunt and uncle, since he didn’t want to be a burden.

So, he was a bit cold even inside, but pushed this out of his mind as he marched resolutely toward the new kid’s desk, lips pressed tight. He placed it down in front of him, and the dark skinned thirteen year old turned to look at him in confusion. “What is this?”

Peter opened his mouth to say something but Flash made frog sounds, “Oops, the frog in your mouth is still alive, Parker!” He brayed along with those of his group, the ones that made the smarter kids do their work. They hadn’t tried it with Peter only because his uncle was a cop, yet it only saved him from physical violence. He was still ridiculed.

Now, he turned red and fled, almost bumping into the teacher as she walked in. He mumbled that he had to go to the bathroom before he was let through, and once there he washed his hot face. It made him colder but at least he felt calmer.

When he returned, the new kid had out the box away and there was no way to talk to him. At the end of homeroom the teacher asked to speak with him, so he couldn’t talk with the new kid, and then he had no classes with him. He had Flash in all of them, so by lunch he was feeling pretty low and especially cause he sat alone. The bully had influenced everyone, so he had no friends.

He jumped in surprise when someone sat down next to him, their lunch tray clattering loudly on the table. Peter was pleasantly surprise to see that it was the new kid. He’d been poking at his chicken nuggets, since they didn’t look particularly appetizing.

“Hey!” he squeaked, voice cracking and Peter winced in sympathy. Puberty was the worst.

“Hi,” Peter answered hesitantly, glancing around furtively but there was no sign of Flash. He was almost always picked up for lunch.

_’Our family chef always brings me food from home. It’s better than anything they serve in the cafeteria,’_ he’d always boast.

The other teen took out the box that Peter had given him. “So, this.... I just...” he choked, pausing as he wiped his eyes. Peter was alarmed to realize he was crying.

“I’m sorry! I thought it’d be a nice way for you to remember your home,” Peter rushed out, fiddling with his cold fingers nervously. He was wearing Harry’s old hoodie, but it was starting to be too small and soon he wouldn’t be able to wear it. There were holes in them but he wanted to wear it until it didn’t fit anymore, or it fell apart. “I didn’t mean to insult you.”

“Dude, no,” the other said, shaking his head so hard his black hair fell all in his eyes. “This,” he said as he opened the box and carefully took out the conch shell, “is the best present I’ve ever gotten.” He lifted it to his ear and closed his eyes as he listened, and again he looked on the verge of tears. “I can hear the ocean...”

He put it back in the box, wiping his watery eyes, waving away Peter’s concern. “I’m so good, sorry,” he told him, “I just miss my home a lot. Thank you.” He reached out and took his hands and frowned. “Dude, your hands are freezing!”

The other, whose name he didn’t even know yet, took off the hoodie he was wearing and handed it to him. It was white with the word ‘Aloha’ on the front but the O was replaced by a pinkish/slight purple pineapple. He seemed to have two on as well as the heavy jacket, and couldn’t blame him since he was obviously not use to New York winters. “Here, let’s be friends. I’m Ned Leeds.”

Peter took the hoodie hesitantly, smiling shyly. “Peter... uh, Parker, I m-mean, Peter Parker, and sure!” He pulled it on over the one he was wearing and it was way too big in him that it sagged off his shoulder, but it was super warm. Peter grinned at the other boy, happy to finally have a new friend, whose name was Ned Leeds.-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope that was a good chapter! Liked it, hit the kudos and leave me a comment, please!


	3. Ben’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It sits in his closet, and sometimes, he wears it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a difficult chapter to write, but it had to be done. I try to write happy stories/chapters, but the angst just rolls in. As I told [Enigmaris](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Enigmaris/pseuds/Enigmaris) (check out her stories, they’re the shit), “I’m a rabid cloud of angst”. Lmao so yeah, this happened with what was supposed to be a happy story of Peter and his <s>stolen</s>borrowed hoodies.  


**The Hoodie Borrower**  
_Chapter Three:_ _Ben’s Hoodie_

\- - - -

_“The ocean crashed ashore_   
_ And take us down forevermore_   
_ I know we hate to think about it_   
_ But this is real as you and me_

_If I should go_   
_ Hold my hand_   
_ If I should leave_   
_ Darling comfort me, please...”_

~Real As You And Me - Rihanna

\- - - -

It was a blue color, and looked to have seen better days. There were holes in it from where some moths had gotten at it. Their house was old and dusty, so there were a lot of moths despite the moth balls his aunt used. It had once belong to his uncle’s grandparents, Peter’s father’s parents, and his Uncle Ben had inherited it, being the oldest son. Peter had grown up in this house, there was marks on one of the doorways that measured his height from the time he could walk, visiting his aunt and uncle.

There were many small treasures hidden there, and in a storage box during their annual spring cleaning is when he found the hoodie. NYPD was large at the top in yellow letters, the police emblem in the middle and under that in smaller yellow letters was ‘New York City Police Dept.’ His uncle Ben had smiled in nostalgia when he saw it, telling Peter when he had gotten it when he had first become a police officer, straight out of the academy.

“Can I keep it?” Peter squeaked in excitement, his brown eyes alit with the thought of being able to wear the comfy, albeit old hoodie. His uncle had hummed and then had him put it on. It had engulfed his thirteen year old frame, and even tied up, the hood fell forward to almost completely cover his brown eyes, big with wonder behind his equally large glasses.

“It’s a bit big,” Ben had hummed, the crow’s feet at his eyes deepening with his grin. “You think you’ll grow into it, bud?”

Peter nodded enthusiastically, eager to be gifted the old hoodie that another kid his age would turn his nose up at. However, Peter was excited at the prospect of being handed down a hoodie that obviously had sentimental value to his uncle, whom was the closest thing to a father Peter had ever known, or at least, remembered.

“I definitely will, Uncle Ben!”

\- - - -

Peter wore it to sleep, and he wore it when it would start to get chilly even if it hung off him, but old ladies on the street would coo at him and call him adorable. “Look at him trying to be like his daddy,” one of them said. His uncle didn’t correct them and Peter would smile that much bigger.

It was truly the best of times, in the Parker family house, and even if they weren’t that well off, it was enough. They had one another, and were happy. His aunt and uncle both helped people, his aunt a nurse and his uncle was a hero cop. So, Peter wanted to be just like them.

But like all good things, those almost idyllic days came to an end.

\- - - -

_’H... hang on, Uncle Ben... hang on!’_

_‘Help! Somebody, help me!’_

_‘Peter... you gotta take care of your aunt...’_

_‘... so smart... an’ so strong, but... with it, comes... great responsibility.’_

** _‘BEN?!’_ **

\- - - -

Peter sucked in a breath, curling into a small ball as his arms wrapped around himself in a semblance of a hug. He let his breath out in a sob, unable to stop them as tears ran down his face, one hand clutched around the blue hoodie. It smelled like Ben and this hurt him even more, but he didn’t dare let it go, not now, or ever.

“Ben... oh, Ben,” he wailed, thinking he would never stop crying.

Even when his aunt climbed in the bed with him, curling around his bent back, burying her own tear-stained face against his brown curls, he couldn’t stop crying. Peter was sure he would never feel happy ever again.

He gripped the blue hoodie, fingers gripping it so hard the knuckles were turning white. But Peter was sure that if he let it go he’d shatter into tiny pieces under his grief.-

\- - - -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come DM me on IG, where I post random shit: [@phiodmuse](https://www.instagram.com/phiodmuse/)


	4. May’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May and Peter grieve...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make chapter four Flash’s Hoodie, but then I saw lovinthatfandom’s [Aunt May Appreciation Post](https://lovinthatfandom.tumblr.com/post/177438439874/lets-talk-about-this-scene-it-really-spoke-to-me) on tumblr and knew I had to write this first. Enjoy!

**The Hoodie Borrower**  
**Chapter Four:** _May’s Hoodie_

\- - - -

_“By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top_   
_ I climbed the tree to see the world_   
_ When the gusts came around to blow me down_   
_ I held on as tightly as you held onto me_   
_ I held on as tightly as you held onto me_

_And, I built a home_   
_ For you_   
_ For me_

_Until it disappeared_   
_ From me_   
_ From you_

_And now, it's time to leave and I turn to dust...”_

~To Build A Home - The Cinematic Orchestra, Patrick Watson

\- - - -

Peter misses a week of school and May misses a week of work. In that time, they grieve.

After the first night, they learn how life will be in the aftermath of Ben’s death, and it is a terrifying silence. They don’t talk, Peter stares off into space as he disassociates from everything and everyone around him. May can’t care for him properly, too wrapped up in her own grief.

May is barely able to make the funeral arrangements. After the call to the funeral parlor, she lays in bed and cries for over an hour. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wonders where Peter is, but then something else reminds her of Ben and it escapes her.

Ned is an honest to God lifesaver, coming by to make sure they eat and May doesn’t think she’s ever loved and appreciated the plump boy more than when she opened the door and he was holding a tray of lasagna from his mother. He’d bullied them both to the table and served them, and sat with Peter as he sobbed through a mouthful of the food and still encouraged him to eat until the whole plate was gone. May had required less encouragement, but then again, she also hadn’t seen Ben die in front of him.

That’s when May had decided that she needed to push her grief aside for now, Peter needed her. And truth be told, she needed him as well. He was all that she had left of Ben, their precious nephew, and she’d be damned if she lost him too.

\- - - -

“Peter, it’s time to get up,” she murmured softly, pushing back the strands of his curly hair. The boy groaned and burrowed further under the covers. “I know, baby, but you have to get up.” May pulled the covers away from him, and that’s when she saw he was hugging Ben‘s old blue police hoodie. She wondered if he had slept with it every day since Ben had died, and it made tears sting her eyes.

“You can leave that here, Peter,” she said, gently prying his fingers from around the hoodie. He set it aside and then pulled him by the hand toward the bathroom, where he handed him some clothes and a towel. “Here.”

Peter nodded and shuffled inside the bathroom, the door closing after him. May only moved away when she heard the shower turn on, moving to the teen’s room to arrange his bed. She sniffed Ben’s hoodie and wrinkled her nose, and went to toss it in the dirty laundry basket.

She went to get dressed, having already showered before coming to wake Peter. May was almost ready when she heard a crash from Peter’s room, and she hurried toward it. “Peter?!”

The woman found him tearing the room apart, having pulled the mattress off his twin bed and was halfway on the floor. “May, I can’t find it.... where is it?!” He yanked open the doors of his closet and was surprised when it was ripped off one of it’s hinges, but figured it was old. As for Peter, he didn’t realize what he had done, since he was more intent on the missing hoodie.

May realized what he was looking for and rushed out of the room, going to the laundry room and grabbing Ben’s hoodie. “Here it is! See, it’s right here,” she gasped, holding it out for him to see. Peter sprang forward and grabbed it, gripping it tightly. “It’s dirty, baby. I just wanted to wash it.”

Peter looked at her. “But it smells like Ben. If you wash it, his scent will be washed away,” he whispered.

The woman felt her heart breaking for him and for herself, since he realized that the last person that had worn it was Ben. If she washed it, his unique scent would be gone, and it was one more thing they’d lose. Even so, the hoodie reeked and had to be washed. “It won’t be washed away,” she said suddenly.

She turned and hurried out of the room once again, and came back with a bottle of cologne. “Look, here,” she said, taking the hoodie from him even as he protested, and sprayed the air in front of him.

Peter paused and inhaled, eyes closing as he shuddered. “Uncle Ben... it smells like him,” he said shakily. He reached out and took the bottle of cologne, a dark green color with a horse and rider emblazoned on the front of it.

May had given Ben the cologne as a gift several Christmases ago, and the man had worn it ever since. It was a scent they both had come to associate with Ben Parker, since he always purchased a new bottle when he ran out, or he got a bottle for a birthday or Christmas.

“Can I wear his hoodie under my suit?” Peter asked. It was an old suit of Ben’s so it was loose enough that he could swing it. Except, the hoodie was in a desperate need of a washing.

“Peter... Ben’s hoodie needs to be washed.” She sighed when his face fell, and she scrambled for something to make it better. Her hands rested on the edge of her own Hoodie, a striped hoodie with several multicolored prints, some that resembled white flowers. It had a kangaroo pocket, and Peter was used to seeing her with it. “How about this,” she told him, pulling off the hoodie before taking the cologne bottle and spraying it and then holding it out to him. “This way, we’ll both be with you... like holding you.”

Peter sniffled as he looked at the hoodie she was holding out and took it in his hands, recognizing it as the hoodie she always wore. He lifted it to his nose and his uncle’s scent greeted him, and his breath hitched in a sob. “Thank you, May,” he gasped, pulling on the hoodie with little regard of whether it was too feminine. Then he put on the suit, glad the tie was a clip on, and they went to the funeral.

May never got her hoodie back, but it was fine. If sacrificing one hoodie helped Peter cope with his grief, then she was happy. It was enough help her own grief of losing her husband, because Ben may have been gone, but Peter was still there.

For May, that was enough to keep living.-

\- - - -

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drop me a comment if you like this chapter, you heathens. Check out my IG: [@phiodmuse](https://www.instagram.com/phiodmuse/).


	5. Flash’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flash Thompson is much more than a bully...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flash, at least, Tony Revolori’s Flash is more charming than his other incarnations. So, I wanted to try and write him, and hopefully I did a good job of it. I don’t think he’s as bad as some people portray him in some fanfics, and there’s also the fact that even from the beginning, he’s always respected Spider-Man and looked up to him. So, this is my take on Eugene “Flash” Thompson.
> 
> Also, check out this [commission art](https://name-me-regret.tumblr.com/post/188828430977/the-art-of-dancing) of the ending scene of The Art of Dancing by [ @eminkw](https://www.instagram.com/eminkw/) over on Instagram. She’s amazing and I believe she’s taking commissions right now. I always use her for my Ordinary series, but I might commission something for Second Star, I dunno. Enjoy the chapter!

**The Hoodie Borrower  
Chapter Five:** _Flash’s Hoodie_

_\- - - -_

_“Hope flows away_  
If you could spend a day in my shoes  
Your mind would change  
If you'd known what I've gone through  
We want the same (Yeah, we do)  
Maybe then you'll understand  
How it hurts to be human.

_God, it hurts to be human...” _

~ Hurts 2B Human (feat. Khalid) - P!nk

\- - - -

There were many things that Flash didn’t like to speak of, and of those many things, there were some he hardly even thought of. His parents and their abandonment of him was one of them. At times, he could go literal days (once even a month) without hearing from them. These days, he was old enough to stay by himself without them having to hire a nanny or babysitter, even if a fourteen year old staying alone in a big empty house was tantamount to neglect.

That was another thing he didn’t speak or think of.

He climbed out of the chauffeur driven car and walked confidently into the school building. His head was held high as he wore the latest fashions, his mother having bought him back some stuff from L.A. Also, his phone was the latest model, and people wanted to be his friends because they saw that he had money, had nice things.

They were parasites.

\- - - -

He entered the classroom just as the tardy bell rung, returning a sheepish smile the teacherand frowned when he didn’t see Peter Parker. Flash was already late and that was proven when the tardy bell rang moments after he stepped inside. He shrugged, since it wasn’t unusual for the loser to miss days due to being sick. Parker has a weak constitution and it was just one more thing that made flash mad, because even if he missed three or four days, he _still_ managed to have the highest grade in every class. Hell, in almost the whole school.

It wasn’t fair and he despised him more for it.

\- - - -

Parker returned to school almost a whole week later, which was unusual. He had never missed that much. The other was pale and had red eyes and looked miserable, and only mumbled something to Ned before he sat down. Then laid his head on his folded arms and proceeded to zone out for the rest of homeroom. And the teacher didn’t say anything to him!

By the end of third period (he had the misfortune of having him for almost every class this year) Flash was getting annoyed when he barely paid attention in class and no teacher said much to him. He saw it as favoritism, and by the end of lunch, he’d become fed up.

“Oops, sorry about that, Penis,” he said with a smirk as he knocked his tray against him, ‘accidentally’ tripping as he’d been walking by. “I went and ruined your hoodie, but it was cheap so no harm done.”

He didn’t realize that his usual crowd didn’t laugh, more intent on seeing the other’s reaction. Flash was disappointed when he merely blinked down at the stained hoodie, which he saw was an old blue one. When he abruptly stood, Flash could just make out the ‘NYPD’ in yellow letters before Parker bolted out of the cafeteria.

Ned stood with an angry expression aimed at Flash. “You’re a real asshole, Flash,” he snapped, then hurried after the smaller boy.

Flash was a bit surprised by Ned’s reaction, since he had never spoken like that to anyone. Sure, he scowled at him whenever he picked on Parker, but he seemed to be as meek as his friend. Neither of them ever stood up to him, and it somehow made it easier to continue, now he did feel bad after having been called out by him.

He scoffed and left the cafeteria as well, following after them without meaning to. It was easy to figure out where he might be, the boy’s bathroom, likely trying to clean up the hoodie. Flash didn’t know why he’d want to salvage the old thing, having seen some holes in it, likely the result of moths eating at the fabric.

When a person opened the door of the boy’s bathroom outside the caferia doors, they were met with a wall, which blocked off being able to see directly inside the restroom. The smokers were glad of this since it meant if a teacher came inside, they had time to chuck their cigarettes out the window or in the toilet while they came around the wall. Now it served Flash in a different capacity, since he was able to enter without the other two boys noticing he’d come in. Also, they were making enough noise that they didn’t hear the door open.

The water was running in one of the sinks, the faucet likely open all the way, which was never good at these sinks since water tended to splash everywhere. “Peter, you’re getting your jeans wet,” Flash heard Ned say.

Parker didn’t respond and Flash heard sloshing and splashing. It made him curious and he cautiously peered around the wall. Ned’s back was facing him, and Parker had his hoodie in his hand and furiously scrubbing the dirty part in the sink. He was splashing water all over his pant legs and ratty sneakers, and he could just tell that his jaw was clenched so hard that he could see a muscle in his cheek jumping with the strain.

“Peter... stop,” Ned said, reaching out as if to stop him.

“NO!” Parker shouted, yanking his arm away and making water splash all over the titled floor. “I... I have to clean it... it’s... it’s dirty... it’s dirty!” He went back to scrubbing it with a frenzied expression, his shoulders heaving with his labored breathing. Flash thought it looked like the beginnings of an asthma attack, but the other hadn’t had one while in school for many months now. Flash left him alone when that happened, since even he wasn’t that much of an asshole as to taunt someone when they couldn’t breathe.

“Peter,” Ned gasped, reaching out to touch him again. This time it was different, Parker didn’t pull away and instead he crumpled into his friend’s arms.

“It’s all I h-have left.... Ned.... he-he’s gone... and... and I got it d-dirty,” he sobbed. The hoodie was pressed between them, likely soaking Ned, but the other didn’t seem to care as he gripped his best friend tightly.

“I’ll clean it for you, Peter, I swear I will,” Ned said, his voice wobbling with his own tears. He gently pushed him away, taking the soaked hoodie from him. “You should go see the nurse about your inhaler, I don’t want you to have an asthma attack.”

Parker mumbled something to him and staggered toward the exit, and Flash ducked away, sliding through the door and hurrying to the next hallway. He peeked back around, seeing Parker wandering aimlessly, almost staggering, in the direction of the nurse. When he’d gone, he went back to the bathroom, pushing open the door and entering the bathroom. He saw Ned at the sink, the water turned off as he gripped the sides of it and the almost completely soaked hoodie in the wet sink.

Ned’s head snapped up as he walked in and then his eyes narrowing angrily when he saw Flash. “You asshole,” he snarled and lunged himself at the taller boy. Flash grunted as he felt his back hit the wall behind him, and he hissed when he felt the plump boy’s fist connect with his jaw. That was going to leave a bruise.

“Wait,” he shouted, holding out his hands to keep the other from hitting him again. Damn, he didn’t know Leeds had it in him, honestly. He’d pegged him as puny and pathetic as Parker. “I just want to know what happened? What’s wrong with Pen... Parker,” he hastily corrected when he saw Ned lift his fist as if to hit him again.

The other frowned. “What do you care, _Eugene_?” Ned snapped, letting him go after another push against the wall. “Just go back with your asshole friends and leave Peter alone.” He went to grab the hoodie but Flash was faster and snatched it up, Ned crying out in outrage. “Don’t you fucking touch that!”

Flash sidestepped the other, and held off the hoodie to see it better. It was just as he had suspected, there was a NYPD on it as well as the police logo, and he knew that of Parker had an uncle that was a cop. That coupled with Parker’s words made him come to the sickening realization.

“Did Parker’s uncle die?” Flash blurted out in shock.

Ned froze as he said that, a baffled expression on his face. “How do you not know that?” he asked, still sounding angry.

Flash shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to answer the other. That he hated the rumor mill since it never had anything favorable to say about anyone. He knew he wasn’t liked by many because of his family’s wealth and general poor behavior, so he tended to ignore any rumors or gossip. So, this had caught him off guard.

It wouldn’t have mattered if it had been anyone else, but this was Parker. Whether he liked it or not, he was involved with him even if it was simply because they were classmates. Flash couldn’t explain why it was different, it just was.

“Jus answer the question, Leeds,” he snapped angrily, since it was safer than any other emotion. It was certainly better than the awkwardness of not knowing when it was clear that everyone else seemed to know. Now he realized why his usual supporters in taunting Parker hadn’t laughed when he’d dumped his tray on him.

Ned’s eyes narrowed on him and then he gave a sharp nod, before reaching out and snatching the wet hoodie out of his hands. “Leave him alone,” he warned, turning away from the other boy and starting to wring the water from the material. It was clear that it was still dirty and saw him grimace.

“I know a good dry cleaners,” he suddenly said, wondering what he was doing. Maybe he felt guilt, or felt some semblance of sympathy or pity for Parker. However, he had dirtied the other boy’s dead uncle’s hoodie, and felt that it was the least he could do. Flash couldn’t make it right, but he could at least fix the mess he’d made.

\- - - -

Peter wiped his sore eyes as he left the nurses’s office, having needed to lay down for a while since he’d missed lunch and due his new metabolism he had gotten low blood sugar. The woman had wanted to call his aunt but he had begged her not to, since this was also her first day back to work. Peter didn’t need her worrying about him, didn’t want to be a burden to her when she was also grieving his uncle’s death.

By the time he felt better, it was nearing the end of the school day, and he couldn’t believe he had basically skipped the second half of school. He would have to make sure he never missed lunch again, since he couldn’t afford for his GPA to drop.

As he trudged down the hallway, the bell rung to end the last class, and his mind was filled with these new powers he’d gotten and what do to with them. He had never wanted to use them for good, having been stupid and thought about making money with them. Peter now knew that this was wrong, he had a responsibility, his uncle had said so, and by God he was going to make him proud.

His head lifted when he bumped into someone, blinking in confusion as he lifted his head and looked up. He frowned when he saw that it was Flash, and he really didn’t need this right now. He was tired, had more than a week of class work to catch up on, including today’s work due to his breakdown during lunch.

Fuck, he felt so stupid and useless.

“What is it Flash? I’m not really in the mood, please,” he sighed, shoulders slumped in exhaustion and what seemed like the weight of the world piled on them.

Flash looked him over, how utterly defeated each looked as he held his backpack by one of the straps as it dragged on the floor after him. He was only in a t-shirt and jeans, which were still slightly damp from earlier and he was shivering. It was getting pretty cold, 43 degrees Fahrenheit (about 5Celsius) to be precise and the wind chill made it seem even colder.

“Here,” he said, shoving some black soft fabric into his arms. “It’s cold. Don’t want you to freeze and then whine about having frostbite tomorrow, Penis.”

Peter sputtered in surprise, but Flash walked off before he could say anything, lifting his backpack onto his shoulder. He hadn’t noticed that he was only wearing the outer jacket he’d had on earlier, but not his black Dolce & Gabbana Milano crown hoodie. As Flash walked out of the doors, Peter unfolded the black fabric and saw that it was his hoodie, his likely expensive hoodie.

The teen looked back toward the doors, but Flash was gone and Peter was left very confused. Even then, he set his bag down and pulled on the hoddie, which was very warm and very soft. Also, it smelled like Flash’s cologne and he could admit it wasn’t a terrible smell. He pulled the hood up and took a moment to let himself warm up, and at the same time the scent of the other’s cologne wrapped around his super heightened senses.

Peter was sure that he wouldn’t be able to forget his scent ever again after this. Well, as long as he didn’t change his cologne. Then again, it smelled expensive, so he probably wouldn’t change it.

He picked up his bag and walked out of the school doors, warm and wrapped in the scent of his biggest bully, and an idea in mind. Also, thinking that maybe Flash wasn’t too bad.

The next day he called him Penis and shoulder checked him as usual, but it wasn’t as hard as most days. If anything, it almost felt like he was actually checking. Maybe checking to see if he would break, or maybe he was being a bully as usual. Either way, Peter couldn’t help give the slightest bit of a smile after the other.-


	6. MJ’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michelle Jones isn’t such a scary girl... most of the time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to post Miles’s Hoodie first, but then I realized that I needed this to happen first. Also, because I wanted MJ and Peter to be friends way before they actually were. I’m not saying it’ll be a Spideychelle story, because it won’t be. I’ll leave that to the canon storyline. I just love the idea of the scary Michelle Jones as friends with Peter and Ned, and being the over-protective scary friend. Hope you enjoy.

**The Hoodie Borrower  
Chapter Six:** _MJ’s Hoodie_

\- - - -

_“If you ever find yourself stuck_   
_in the middle of the sea,_   
_I’ll sail the world to find you._   
_If you ever find yourself lost_   
_in the dark and you can’t see,_   
_I’ll be the light to guide you._

_Find out what we’re made of,_   
_when we are called to help our_   
_friends in need._

_You can count on my like one, two, three,  
I’ll be there...”_

~Count on Me - Bruno Mars

\- - - -

Things had been going great for Peter Parker, which was strange enough that he was starting to get suspicious. It had never went well for Peter, especially where Flash was concerned. He always riled him, but this whole week he hadn’t bothered him too much except for the usual shoulder check in the mornings. Even then, it wasn’t as hard as it usually was, and with his now super strength he barely felt it.

Also, the other bullies hadn’t harassed him either. They had shoved him into one of the lockers once after his uncle’s death, and by the end of the school day they had apologized and told him they’d leave him in peace. So far, they had kept their word and it left Peter a bit suspicious about their actions.

Peter shook himself from his negative thoughts, thinking that it was best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. It had been a good day and no one had called him names today.

“Bye, Penis! Don’t get ran over out in the parking lot!” Flash shouted.

Peter sighed loudly as he lifted his face toward the ceiling as it questioning his life choices. Well, at least Flash’s choice of an insulting nickname. “Kill me now,” he groaned, spoken like a true Gen-Z kid.

He grunted as he felt someone shoulder past him and turned to see that it was Michelle, who smirked at him. Peter returned it before the scary girl continued on, and Peter took a deep breath and hurried out of the school building.

Today was the day he would go out and try out his new webshooters. When they were perfected, he could finally go out to help the little guy. There was no name yet, not something given to him by the people like Iron Man, or a name that inspired people during times of war like Captain America. He would think of the perfect name one day, but for now he needed to learn to use his powers so he could help the little guys that the Avengers couldn’t help.

Maybe someone like his Uncle Ben.

Peter would not be deterred from this goal, and maybe he could help someone’s loved ones come home safe where his hadn’t been able to.

\- - - -

Peter knew something was wrong when he came home to May reading a letter with a defeated expression on her face. “May? What is it?”

Losing their house was like losing Ben all over again.

\- - - -

The first day at school after they were forced to move when his aunt wasn’t able to pay the mortgage on their house was as hard as a month ago when Ben had died. Only, it seemed a bit worse because the bullies left him alone and therefore nothing could keep his mind off of it. Ned had thought things were going better for Peter, that he was healing, and Peter didn’t want to bring him down with this new problem.

So, he told him nothing. He gave him excuses on why he couldn’t come over, or instead insisted they meet at the Leeds house. So, in a way it seemed like Peter was on his own. Then again, he had decided to be a superhero on his own without telling anyone, so he had chosen this.

Even then, he still felt completely alone.

“Dude, are you alright?” Ned asked when he saw him with his head down at their lunch table. He hesitated when Peter waved him off, but finally moved off to get in line. They had separate classes just before lunch, and Peter’s was closer so he usually already through the line by the time Ned came in.

Peter jerked his head up when a tray was dropped on the desk next to his head, having been on the verge of falling asleep. He hadn’t gotten much sleep last night since he had been out as Spider-Man and had crawled in his bedroom window well past two in the morning.

It was a name people had started to call him on social media due to the big black spider he’d drawn on the front of his red hoodie, because of the spider that had bitten him, and he had just went with it. So, now he was Spider-Man. He supposed the name would have been obvious to him, since it was from a radioactive spider that he’d gotten his powers.

“Geez, Michelle,” he grumbled as he sat up. He was shivering from how cold it had started to get, outside and inside. It was barely October but this far north it tended to get colder earlier in the year. Also, he’d noticed that he had started to get colder more easily now, and suspected it had to do with the spider bite.

She tossed something at him. “You’re shivering, you moron,” she said. “Aren’t you supposed to be smart? Who forgets to bring a hoodie when its this cold?” The first snow hadn’t fallen yet, but the wind was brutal, and it was made worse when it rained.

Peter saw it was a hoodie, but it wasn’t as girly as he would have thought from a girl. Then again, Michelle wasn’t the usual type of girl. It was a black hoodie with the words ‘Allergic to Bullshit’, and if this just wasn’t typically Michelle then she didn’t know what was.

He simply pulled it on since he was cold, and also because Michelle was wearing a yellow hoodie. “How’d you know I’d need this?” Peter asked her, because Michelle almost never brought two hoodies to school. Well, unless it was super cold, but it was the beginning October and it wasn’t that cold just yet.

Michelle had started to eat her lunch with one hand and a book in her other hand titled ‘Third Sex. Third Gender. Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History’, but now looked away from the book to give him a ‘really?’ look. “What?” Peter asked defensively, shoulders tensing. Did Michelle somehow know about his powers, and his now difficulty to thermoregulate?

The girl rolled her eyes. “It’s because it’s well known you’re always forgetting to bring a coat or a hoodie.” She picked up her book again to start reading and ignoring Peter as if she wasn’t sitting at the same table. As if she hadn’t made a conscientious effort to sit at the same table to give Peter her hoodie.

“Than-“

“You can keep that, by the way,” she told him, interrupting him as he’d been thanking her. “I know I’m not going to get it back anyways.”

Peter sputtered indignantly. “I-I’ll give it back,” he lied badly, feeling his face already heating up over his inability to lie well.

Michelle fixed him with that look again. “Have you given Flash his hoodie back?” She smirked as he opened his mouth and closed it again. “What about Ned’s hoodie from the fifth grade? I’m sure you gave that back, since it’s been two years since then.”

The recently turned fourteen year old stuttered, but was unable to come up with a response. Because he still had both of them.

She smirked. “My point exactly. Keep it, since I won’t get it back anyways.”

Peter hunched his shoulders as he burrowed into the hoodie, no longer shivering. “Thanks, Michelle,” he mumbled sulkily.

“It’s MJ,” he said without looking away from her book.

He grinned. “So, does this means we’re friends now?”

Michelle, now regulated as MJ in his mind, snorted. “No thanks, I have no interest in joining the Losers Club,” she deadpanned.

Peter blinked for a moment. “Did you just reference Stephen King?”

\- - - -

Spider-Man grinned underneath his mask as he swung with ease through Queens, feeling more lighthearted than he had in a while. He saw someone trying to break into a car as he went, and swung by, attaching a web to one of their legs and dragging them away.

“Taxi service!” he called out cheerfully. “Next stop: Jail!”

The man screamed profanities at him.

“Language!” the masked vigilante sing-songed.-


	7. Miles’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Miles’s parents are having a party and he’s less than pleased, at first that is...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to keep this mostly Peter-centric, but Miles kept butting in lol but I’m actually pretty surprised with how I liked the way this chapter came out. It was fun writing this chapter, which is also super long.

**The Hoodie Borrower**  
**Chapter Seven:** _Miles’s Hoodie_

\- - - -

_"I don't wanna tell you that  
I long to see your face,  
I'm scared it might scare you away  
and I don't wanna tell you that  
sometimes I think of you and smile  
'cause time with you is time enough for now_

_See I don't know how long  
I can stick around and be just another friend  
time and time again and hold my tongue._

_I don't know how long before it  
breaks me down inside,  
and all my strength has gone away,  
and it's too late before I say  
I'm falling for you_

_I'm falling for you...”_

~I’m Falling For You - Chester See

\- - - -

Peter climbed the steps two at a time with ease, the elevator having broken again. He was thankful for the spider bite or by now he’d have been wheezing and out of breath. Although, he hadn’t been thankful for the pain and fever he’d had for almost two days afterwards. He had seriously thought he was going to die it was so bad.

Then he’d bounced back and even had a bit of a growth spurt. It wasn’t much, since he’d been about five feet and three inches. He’d grown at least two or three inches, and it was great. What wasn’t great was the need to buy pants that fit, and who knew that two inches (or three) would cost so much money.

“May, I’m home!” Peter called. Her shift shouldn't have started yet, and then tomorrow and Sunday were her days off. All his weekend homework was done, having already caught up all the schoolwork he’d missed over two months ago. So, he was looking forward to spending a weekend together, just that two of them.

The woman smiled at him from where she was at the kitchen counter, putting down what she had on her hand before opening her arms as he rushed into them. While things had been difficult for a while, their relationship was stronger than ever. She deserved these two days, since she’d been working so hard all month.

“Hey, baby, how was school?” she asked as she pulled back, smoothing back a stray curl. He usually gelled back his hair but by the end of the day, his errant curls started to come out. She didn’t even know why he bothered to gel his hair back, since she thought he looked so much better with his curls on display.

“It was great. I aced my math test,” he said, bringing his backpack forward and digging out the test he’d taken yesterday for his AP calculus class. He pretended to be embarrassed as she pinned it to the fridge, but he was secretly pleased by her actions. After all, she was all he had left as a parental figure, so he wanted her to be proud of him.

“Did you want an afternoon snack?” she asked him as she went around the counter to enter the kitchen. Peter sat on this stool and was about to refuse to save his stomach from certain death, but it took that time to growl. Because he _was_ hungry since he now had a crazy metabolism due to the spider bite and his new powers. Peter just didn’t want his Aunt to try cooking and kill them both.

“Uh, what’s this?” Peter asked quickly when she saw her start to take out ingredients. He lifted what she’d been holding earlier and realized it was an invitation for a party. “Who sent this?”

She paused as she took out a mixing bowl, glancing at the invitation. Peter saw that it was from someone named ‘Jefferson Davis’ and that it was a Brooklyn address. He didn’t know they knew anyone in Brooklyn.

“It’s an old friend... of your uncle,” she said quietly. She turned away and opened the fridge. “He knows he’s gone, but he said he’d love to have us over. That a lot of Ben’s police colleagues will be there.”

Peter stared at the invitation silently for a few moments, an unreadable expression on his face. They had moved out of their house a month ago, and it had been another blow to their small (smaller now) family. His aunt had simply not been able to pay the mortgage and they’d had to leave it. For Peter that had grown up on this house and May that had lived there since before she had married Ben, it had been like losing another family member; losing Ben again.

They’d moved to this apartment building, since it was cheaper and it had gotten better. Everything that had reminded them of Ben, the old rickety stairs that creaked no matter how you walked up or down them. Ben always tried to fix them but had finally given it up as a lost cause. Then his office and small library, mostly filled with law books and outdated copies of the New York Law Enforcement Handbook. There was even a few more recent books of private investor training, which led May to believe that he wanted to retire and become a PI and perhaps make more money than being a regular police officer. It had come as a surprise to Peter.

He hadn’t known that part of Ben, the police officer or his goals once he retired. And he had been close, just five years away from, and now he was gone.

“How’d they know we moved?” Peter asked her.

She turned with a sad smile. “Some of them call from time to time, to see how we’re doing... for your uncle.” She came to the counter and laid a hand on the hand holding the invitation. “They met you when you first came to live with us,” May explained, but Peter did not remember, “and they want to meet you now, see how we’re both doing.”

May saw his hesitation and squeezed his hand before letting go. “We don’t have to go, if you don’t want to. There will be other chances later.”

“No, it’s alright... I-I want to go,” he said. His fingers curled around the invitation, and wondered of the men and women he had worked with. Maybe one of them had been his partner, and some would tell him stories of his uncle. They could show him a part of his uncle he hadn’t known. It would be nice.

“And hey, you can invite some friends over. I’m sure they won’t mind.”

Peter stuffed a cookie in his mouth, choosing not to answer, only smiling and giving a nod. She points at his phone and he gives a smile, cheeks bulging with another cookie he had stuffed in his mouth. May laughed and returned to her cooking. Peter groans and grabs his phone, texting Ned and asking if he wants to go with him to a party in Brooklyn. After a moment, he texts Michelle even if he doesn’t expect an answer.

**Ned your boi:** _Yeah man! That’d be great! Let me ask my mom!_

Peter smiled and shook his head, and was surprised as May set a plate of three PB&J sandwiches in front of him and a glass of milk. He was glad she hadn’t tried to cook anything after all.

**Michelle aka the boss:** _free food? sure, loser._

He choked on a bite of his sandwich when he saw her message. Peter took a swig of milk and texted back.

**Peter bee Parker:** _Does this mean you’re joining the Losers Club??_

**Michelle aka the boss:** _don’t push your luck, loser._

He giggled and shook his head, finishing his last sandwich quickly.

“I have to go, but make sure you don’t stay up too late,” May said, kissing his cheek as she left for her shift.

Peter waited until he was sure she’d left before he hurried to his room, yanking on his spider-suit, opening his window and webbing himself to the building across the street. As he swung away, he flicked his wrist behind him, closing his bedroom door.

“Woohooo!” he shouted as he flipped up as high as the buildings surrounding him would allow. Then he plummeted down, catching himself in time before he went splat on the ground.

It was time to catch him some bad guys.

\- - - -

Miles dragged his feet as he helped his mom sweep the floor. They were having people over later that day so he’d been made to get up at an insanely early hour to get the house ready. It was Saturday and it was meant to be his day off, and he had wanted to hang out with Ganke.

Instead, he had been up at 5 in the morning cleaning the house in anticipation of strangers invading his house. Even his room had to be cleaned, which meant that there would be kids his age and that his mom expected him to take some of them to his room. This isn’t what he wanted at all.

Miles had met other cop’s kids and hadn’t really gotten along too well. Usually they fell into three categories: the jerks that thought the could get away with everything cause their parents were cops, the too strict sticklers for rules and would sell you out on a moment, and those that wanted to distance themselves from their law-abiding parents and smoked or participated in either drinking or drugs.

Luckily, Miles fell into neither of these. He was just a regular teenager that wanted to avoid being embarrassed by his dad, would tag a wall now and then, and had no interest in smoking or drinking. While he went to Brooklyn Visions Academy, he didn’t think he was super smart, and was more interested in art than anything else.

“_Ya terminé, mami!_” Miles shouted as he threw the broom down and made to run off. Maybe he could shoot some hoops with Sergio at the court before the party.

He had to forcibly stop, stumbling with the suddenness of it as his mother stepped between him and his freedom, the front door. “I don’t think so,” she said, arms crossed over her chest. “Your room, Miles. Clean it, _pero ya_.”

Miles knew better than to lie, because she’d go check, and when she opened the closet all his dirty clothes would fall out, and if she looked under the bed, she’d find a lot of his stray things shoved underneath. And then when he came back, well, he’d be in big trouble. “_Mami,_ can’t I do it later? No one’s gonna be in my room!” He would make sure of it.

Rio frowned and pointed toward the hallway that led to the room. Miles groaned loudly and stomped off, going into his room and throwing himself onto his bed to wallow for a few moments. Then he heard his mom ask if he was cleaning and immediately scrambled up.

“Stupid party,” he grumbled as he pulled out all the things he’d pushed under the bed, trying to find a place for them.

\- - - -

Peter shifted in the passenger seat of his aunt’s Volvo, nervous about meeting his uncle’s colleagues. He listened to his aunt as she chatted with Michelle who was sitting behind Peter. Ned was putting in a few words, and laughing, and it made Peter feel like he could go through with this. He had his friends Ned and Michelle (MJ now since she’d officially joined the Losers Club) and May gave him the support he needed.

When the door opened of the apartment they arrived at, the man was surprised but pleased to see May. “May!” He turned to Peter and smiled. “Hello, Peter.”

Peter gave a shy smile in return. “Hi, Mr Davis,” he said as he held out his hand. The man took his hand and shook it.

“It’s good to see you again, Peter. You were about nine the last time I saw you.”

“How did you know my uncle?”

“Well, before your aunt and uncle married, Ben was living in Brooklyn...”

Miles groaned as his mom came to drag him out of his room, since he was so done with the jerks out there. It wasn’t the cops, it was their kids. They were real assholes and when they laughed and smiled he could tell it wasn’t the nice kind.

“_Mami_,” he groaned.

He noticed that a few more people had arrived and he rolled his eyes at the idea of playing nice toward them while hating every moment of....

His eyes landed on a boy talking with his dad, who must have said something funny because he laughed. The boy was wearing a checkered shirt with a baby blue sweater over it, and with soft brown curls as his eyes squinted closed as he laughed with what looked like perfectly straight teeth.

Miles was pretty sure he was in love.

“Miles!” his dad called, snapping him out of his daze, because he was sure the sunlight streaming from the window behind this pretty boy just made him seem like he was all glowing and super soft. “Miles!”

The Afro-Latino teen straightened his hoodie and hurried over, feeling his face warming a bit as the boy’s eyes (that he could tell were a dark brown) turned to look at him curiously. “Peter, this is my son, Miles. He’s your age actually, maybe about a year younger. Miles, this is Peter, his Uncle used to be stationed in my precinct when I started as a rookie cop.”

“Oh, cool,” he said with a grin, whom Miles now knew was named Peter. His voice sounded really nice. “Hi, nice to meet you.” He held a hand out to Miles, and the recently turned fourteen year old frozen, since he was sure the other would feel how sweaty his palms are.

However, when he saw Peter’s smile falter, he quickly reached forward and took it, since he didn’t want that smile to disappear. It was really nice and not at all like the other kids he had met thus far. Now seemed like the best time to try his Uncle Aaron’s sure fire technique, so he quirked his lips into a smirk. “Hey,” he said, trying to make his voice deeper than it really was to sound cool.

Peter’s slightly confused expression made him realize that he hadn’t been successful. “These... these are my friends, Ned and Michelle,” he said, motioning at the two other teens with him. Miles turned to a plump boy that might have had some kind of Asian descent, or maybe not due to his darker skin color. Or he maybe he was racial profiling him and needed to stop. The girl was super pretty, with super curly hair, and a super scary scowl one her face.

Oh shit, was she Peter’s girlfriend? And Miles has just been trying to flirt with him.

“Uh, hey... hello, nice to meet you,” he said, waving awkwardly. The girl smirked at him for some reason and Miles felt very afraid. Also, he noticed that his dad had walked off in the middle of their introductions, so he was on his own. “So, didja want to go shoot some hoops? There’s a basket in the courtyard in the back of the apartment building.”

Peter hesitated. “I’m not very athletic, and I don’t know how to play basketball,” he said, hands fiddling with the bottom of his sweater. His hands were slightly covered by the sleeves, making the most adorable sweater paws.

“I-I’ll teach you!” Miles said, feeling his face warm as his voice cracked.

The hesitant smile Peter gave him was well worth the embarrassment. “Oh, sure, that’d be great.”

They didn’t see Ned and MJ exchange a look, the latter rolling her eyes in fond exasperation. Even so, they followed the two boys outside, looking between Miles that seemed to be hanging onto Peter’s every word as he recounted his latest project in robotics club.

Miles called out to two guys that were already playing one and one. “Hey, Sergio, Dylan!” he called. He and the one named Sergio did a handshake that made Ned and Peter grin at one another, since it reminded them of theirs.

After a moment spent talking with them, they heard Dylan say something they couldn’t make out but it made Miles punch his shoulder. Sergio cackled, threw the basketball at Miles and then he and Dylan left. However, they kept glancing over toward Peter, MJ and Ned, smirks on their faces. The other three teens walked over.

“What was that all about?” MJ asked with a raised eyebrow.

Miles dribbled the ball as he looked away, and she could swear his cheeks looked a bit darker with a blush. “Nothin’, they were just being stupid,” he muttered.

He bounced the ball toward them, and Peter fumbled with it for a moment before he got a good hold of it. Miles grinned and pointed at the hoop behind him with his thumb. “Go ahead and shoot,” he said.

Peter dribbled the ball a bit clumsily, lifting his face toward the hoop, and tossed it. It hit the backboard and bounced off toward the left. Miles hurried after it as Peter felt his face heat up. “I suck,” he laughed nervously, looking a bit disappointed.

Miles jogged back over. “Here, let me show you,” he said. He waited for Peter to nod before he handed him the ball. After a moment of hesitation, he walked behind him, adjusting his stance and the way he held the ball.

“Okay, when you’re about to shoot, bend your knees and see where the rim and the net meet?” Miles asked, standing right behind him so he was almost pressed against his back. Miles was momentarily distracted with how good he smelled.

“You mean where the three hooks are at the front?” Peter asked, turning to look him in the eyes. From this close he saw they were a dark mahogany color and the iris were so black.

“Uh, y-yeah,” Miles said, turning back to the task at hand. He cleared his throat and took a single step closer, and that made his front touch the other’s back. The dark skinned adolescent was glad when he didn’t feel Peter tense, so he wasn’t uncomfortable. “Here, shift your hold... right, and now, bend your knees a bit more.” He felt him do so and he brushed against him. “Now, aim, and shoot.”

Peter’s tongue stuck out in concentration before he did as he was told, the ball hit the rim, rolled along it a moment before landing. He cried out as he gave a small hop of joy, and Miles didn’t find it adorable at all. <s>He did.</s>

He turned and grinned at Miles. “I did it!”

Miles returned his smile. “Y-Yeah, good job.”

MJ turned to Ned. “They’ve forgotten about us, haven’t they?”

Ned shrugged. “I think so,” he chuckled.

MJ rolled her eyes and went to sit down on a nearby bench. She took out her sketchbook and started to draw the two disaster gays in front of her. Miles as he used any excuse to touch Peter’s arm or side, and Peter, the oblivious idiot that couldn’t see Miles’s blatant flirting. Honestly, he was so dumb.

Miles jogged after the ball that went off course and turned back around afterwards, bouncing it back toward Peter. He caught it but still managed to hit his abdomen, and frowned a moment before he gave a yelp and dropped the ball. “Aw, gross! It’s got dog poop!”

Ned burst out laughing, Miles’s face burning in humiliation as he stuttered in apology. Then Peter saw the stain on his sweater and pulled it off with a groan of disgust. “It’s on my sweater, what the hell?!”

“I’m so sorry!” Miles squeaked, reaching out as if to help, but not really knowing what to do. “I d-didn’t see it on there when I threw it at you! There aren’t any pets allowed here! I don’t know where it came from!”

Peter wrinkled his nose in disgust that Miles didn’t find adorable at all. <s>He really did.</s>

Ned started to unzip his hoodie. “Here, Peter, take mine,” he said. “I know you get cold easily these days.” He was already starting to tremble from the cold.

Miles looked down at his own hoodie and unzipped it. “No, take mine! It’s my fault anyways, and I live right here so it’s no problem to pull on another hoodie.” It was one of his favorite hoodies, an Off White C/O Seeing Things hoodie, and he hated to give it up. The slightly smaller Peter put it on as the sleeves covered his hands expect for his fingertips. When he burrowed his nose inside the collar with a happy sigh, Miles thought it was worth it.

“I’ll give it back before we leave, I promise,” Peter said, still snuggled up. It almost felt natural to reach forward and pull the hood up for him, and he was glad he did when Peter gave the cutest giggle.

Miles was totally in love.

\- - - -

They left the party fairly late, almost the last ones to leave, and Miles was glad as he got to spent a lot of time with Peter and his friends. Once he got talking with Ned, he found that he liked the plump boy, and Michelle (“Call me MJ, geez!”) might look scary, but she had the best random morbid facts.

The best part of the evening was when he’d learned that MJ was definitely not Peter’s girlfriend. That was followed by the second best part, which was when he got Peter’s (Ned ‘s and MJ’s too) phone number. He contemplated on asking the curly haired boy on a date, but he chickened out every time. In the end, he decided to take things slow. He’d be Peter’s friend first and then later he’d ask him out. There’s still time.

Miles waved at Peter and Ned as they walked out, not even bothering asking for his hoodie back. Just the thought of Peter using it made him feel stupidly happy. His Aunt was saying goodbye to his parents, and MJ walked past him, shoving something into his hand.

“Welcome to the Losers Club. You certainly qualify for being such a dumbass,” she said as she walked off. He realized she’d shoved a page from her sketchbook into his hand, and she’d actually drawn his face with a bit of a dopey smile on his face.

It was titled _‘Dumbass In Love’_.

\- - - -

Peter blinked as MJ shoved a sheet from her sketchbook at him. She’d drawn his face with a confused look on his features.

The title read _‘Oblivious Dumbass’_.

Peter was offended, and completely baffled.-


	8. Tony’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony wasn’t going to get involved with the kid. He’d made a mistake bringing him to Germany. Then he started to realize that he needed to keep this dumbass kid alive. Yeah, that’s all it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I got super blocked and I kept going back to methods of trying to get past it but it didn’t work for a long time. Yeah... so, sorry this is so late. Didn’t mean for it to happen. Thanks to Diana for her spamming and encouragement. You helped me, girl.

  
**The Hoodie Borrower**  
**Chapter Eight:** _Tony’s Hoodie_

\- - - - 

_“When the night has come_   
_And the land is dark_   
_And the moon is the only light we'll see_   
_No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid_   
_Just as long as you stand, stand by me_   
  
_And darlin', darlin', stand by me_   
_Oh, stand by me_   
_Woah, stand now_   
_Stand by me, stand by me_   
_Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me_   
_Oh, stand by me_   
_Woah, just stand now_   
_Oh, stand, stand by me...“_

~Stand By Me - Ben E. King  
  
\- - - -  
  
Peter grinned as he read the text message that Miles had sent him, always thinking his friend was super funny. He’d just scored a DVD player from the dumpster a few blocks from school as he headed for the subway to get home. Even if it didn’t work, Peter was pretty confident that he could get it working once again.  
  
**Miles to go for road work:** _So... wanna hang out this weekend? I found this awesome cafe last time. Wanna get some food or something?_  
  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Yeah sure, that’d be great. MJ likes cafes and stuff, and Ned is always down. Let me ask them if they’re free_  
  
**Miles to go for road work:** _Oh, yeah sure. Lemme know._  
  
All the way in Brooklyn, a teenage boy let his head drop onto the pillow with a groan. “Damnit,” he mumbled.  
  
Ganke laughed from his seat at his computer. “Again?” Another groan was Ganke’s answer. “Parker is totally oblivious, man. You gotta ask him straight... well, maybe straight isn’t the right word for it.”  
  
“Fuck off,” Miles grumbled.  
  
“Anyways, what I’m more concerned about are these... new abilities of yours. What’re you planing on doing with them? Gonna become like that crazy dude on YouTube?”  
  
Miles turned on his back and looked at his hand, flinching as electricity crackled along it. “I dunno,” he muttered, flexing his hand and tried to do it again only for nothing to happen. “I think I gotta figure them out first before I decide to do anything.”  
  
Ganke hummed in agreement as he continued to type on his laptop.  
  
\- - - -  
  
“Hey May.”  
  
“How was school today?” she asked as he tossed his bag aside and put the DVD player he’d found in the trash on the table.  
  
“It was ok,” he said with a bit of a shrug. “There’s this crazy car parked outside...” He turned to face her and froze when he saw Tony freaking Stark sitting in his living room.  
  
“Oh, Mr. Parker,” the man said with a smirk.  
  
\- - - -  
  
**Chaos Squad**  
  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Sorry guys can’t make it to the cafe! I’ll explain when I get back!_  
  
**Miles to go for road work** _well go when you get back_  
  
**Michelle aka the boss has changed the group chat to Nerd Squad**  
  
**Ned your boi:** _Type F to pay respects to Peter ‘ditches’ Parker _  
  
**Miles to go for road work:** _F_  
  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _F_  
  
**Peter bee Parker:** _:((_  
  
\- - - -  
  
Peter groaned as he lay on the concrete of the airport terminal, not wanting to get up but he forced himself when he heard what might have been machine gunfire. He sat up, clutching his bruised ribs and lifted his face. The fourteen year old was horrified as he saw what appeared to be War Machine falling out of the sky, judging by the colors of the armor.  
  
He staggered to his feet, stepping forward as if he would help him, but he didn’t have super speed and would never make it in time. Peter heard Mr. Stark’s desperate cry of the Colonel’s name moments before he plowed at high speeds into the unforgiving ground. Peter shut off the comm with a shaking hand, the other one still holding it against his abdomen.  
  
“Kid,” he heard, turning to see Happy signaling Peter to follow him. He glanced toward the direction he had seen War Machine fall, before he turned and hurried away.  
  
\- - - -

Tony went against the doctor’s orders when they told him he needed complete bed rest. He knew he should be resting, because he was in such pain due to his cracked sternum from getting a vibranium shield slammed into his arch reactor in his chest. It had been like after Afghanistan all over again, and it was hard to take deep breaths without feeling pain, and if he coughed or laughed it was agony.  
  
However, he had to see the kid home. He knew that Happy could have easily taken him home, since he’d picked him up four days ago. Tony had to meet with Rhodey and coordinate their plan or attack. It had been such a difficult thing to think about, attacking whom had once been their friends.  
  
And he had almost let Happy take him, because of the pain. Then the image of being knocked out of the air by that giant hand had invaded his brain, Rhodey falling with frightening speed toward the ground. So, he had gotten his battered and bruised body up. As he dressed with difficulty, Tony realized that he never should have taken him into this fight. He was fourteen years old for crying out loud. Luckily, he was more resilient than he gave him credit for, but the imagine of the kid laying on the tarmac looking broken wouldn’t leave his head.  
  
Tony picked up the kid from his hotel room and driven them to the airport. And even if he had been on it before, Peter was still so amazed by the plane and the seats and being in the air for the second time in his short life <s> _ (fourteen!)_</s>, and his guileless attitude eased some of the hurt _(Don’t think of it)_.  
  
Then he had fallen asleep, proving he was more tired (or hurt) than he was letting on. That was after eating three servings of the meals on board. Tony was looking through the newspaper Happy had shoved in his hand and was amused as he remembered how much the man had bitched about it.  
  
He must have dozed off as well, since he was also still injured and exhausted (more emotionally than physically). Tony hadn’t even woken up when Happy had lowered his seat to a more comfortable position. It was as they cleared USA airspace that he was woken up, by several dozen beeps. He jerked out of his slumber and into a defensive position, feeling agony shoot through his chest.  
  
The man bit his lip to stop the cry that wanted to claw up his throat, seeing black spots from the pain. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and Roger’s voice (which he’d come to despise) in his ear _’He’s my friend.’ ‘So was I.’_ The shield, which had been made by his father and that had once stood for justice, coming down as if for a death blow as he helplessly-  
  
“Oh, mood,” a young voice giggled. Tony’s eyes shifted to the right and came to alight on one Peter Parker, a smile on his face still plump with baby fat. He was looking through his phone and Tony realized all at once that the beeping had been coming from his shitty iPhone. They must have gotten within satellite range of whatever phone company May Parker had.  
  
It took him another moment to realize he was staring, and that’s likely why the teen was giving him a questioning look. Tony cleared his throat before he spoke. “You’re certainly popular, or is it a clingy girlfriend?” he teased, hoping his voice didn’t sound forced. He was certainly forcing himself.  
  
Tony was amused at the look on kid’s face, seeing the flush crawling up his cheeks. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he muttered petulantly as he hunched his shoulders.  
  
“A cling boyfriend then? I don’t judge. Free love and all that.” Peter’s face was pretty red by then and Tony felt like giggling. He was so easy to fluster, and it was a refreshing change. Peter wasn't like Steve at all, who would have shaken his head and ignored Tony.  
  
Well, he supposed that he still wasn't use to Tony's antics, and gave it a month until he was sick of Tony. It was bound to happen.  
  
"No, Mr. Stark. It's just my friends Ned and Miles. They're roasting me on Discord," he said with an eyeroll but a smile on his face. It was a fond kind of smile that Tony hadn't worn since the days before the Avengers had become a thing. When it had just been Rhodey and him, and Pepper and Tony had just started what wasn't yet a doomed relationship.  
  
"Oh, is that so? And what are they "roasting" you about?" he inquired, lifting his hands to do air quotes.  
  
Peter giggled. "I can't believe you did the air quotes. That's such a dad thing to do." He was distracted by another ding on his phone that he missed the stunned look on Tony's face.

No one had ever said he was paternal, in any way, and here was this fourteen year old having just crushed all that with one word. Granted, he hadn't actually called him dad, but he _had_ said he had done something a father would do (or did).  
  
And even if it wasn't a big deal, since Peter had gone back to laughing at his phone, it _was_ huge to Tony. He had no fatherly qualities and had no plans on becoming a dad, since his own father hadn't been... the best dad. So, he knew he would never make a good one.  
  
As they dropped off the kid off in front of his apartment building, where he had laughed for the first time since before the Siberia incident, he knew he had to put some distance between Peter and him. He'd planned on taking the superhero teenager under his wing and teaching him the ropes, and perhaps he would be better than he had been; wouldn't make the same mistakes he'd once done. Now, however, after that one word, Tony couldn’t take the kid on as a mentee, it just wasn’t possible. He had to break away now, while he still had a chance.  
  
Besides, he'd be fine. How much trouble could a super-kid get into stopping purse snatchers?  
  
\- - - -  
  
When he had to save the disaster super-kid from drowning after getting tangled in his own parachute, he knew he couldn’t leave him alone anymore. Now, he had a new job, whether he wanted it or not. That new job was to keep one dumbass super kid from killing themselves.  
  
\- - - -  
  
"Uuuugh," Miles groaned as he landed heavily on the concrete, spitting up a bit of blood which got on the mask he was wearing. He'd gotten the idea to use a Mexican wrestler's mask to hide his identity for now, since using a ski mask would make him look like a burglar.  
  
Ganke rushed to his side as soon as he climbed the five flights of steps of the apartment building, breathing heavily. "H-holy... shit, Miles?" he gasped. coughing a bit. "Is... anything broken?"  
  
He pulled up the mask, spat the blood in his mouth and lifted a thumbs up. Then fell back against the pavement, another pained groan escaping his mouth.  
  
"Rip," his traitorous friend laughed at him, reaching out to help him off the ground. "Come on, enough with trying to kill yourself. Don't you have a date today?"  
  
Miles elbowed him with a scowl. "It's not a date."  
  
Ganke just laughed as he clutched his stomach. "Crashed and burned again," he cackled.  
  
Miles only grumbled but didn't deny it.  
  
"Is he still gushing over that Liz girl?"  
  
When his friend's shoulders slumped as he sighed, Ganke only patted his shoulder sympathetically. It was one thing to try and ask Peter out and fail, but another to see him crushing after some girl from his school. Miles was hoping it was more that he was oblivious than him being straight. Because if he was straight, than he was screwed.

“This sucks,” he grumbled, Ganke nodding solemnly, even if Miles knew he was an asshole that enjoyed his pain. He didn’t know why he was friends with him.

“Come on, let’s grab some burgers. My treat,” he told him.

Oh yeah, cause he was awesome and bought him food constantly since his metabolism had skyrocketed like crazy.

“Then we can work out why you suck at asking out one guy to a single date.”

Also, cause they were roommates and it was too late in the year to change rooms.  
  
\- - - -  
  
Peter jumped as his phone rang, fumbling with it for a moment and it was only his sticky powers that kept it from falling to the pavement down below. "Hello?" he asked uncertainly, recognizing the number but not sure if it was really Mr. Stark.

“Hey, kid, do you want to come over to work in the lab Friday after school?”

The fifteen year old was sure he was dreaming, so he used his free hand to pinch his right arm. It hurt. So, meant he wasn’t dreaming. “S-sure!” he sputtered before he could change his mind.

“Great. Happy will pick you up after school. I’ll call Aunt Hottie and let her know.”

He hung up before he could ask him how he had his aunt’s phone number, but he should have known better. He’d found him when he had thought he was being super careful on keeping his secret identity a.. well, a secret.

\- - - -  
  
Peter grinned as he put the finishing touches on his new web shooters. “I did it! I can’t believe I was able to make this all on my own-“

The canister exploded, covering him in webbing as he was flung back. He’d clenched his eyes and mouth closed, his senses screaming at him in time that he was able to spare them from being filled with the sticky webbing. When he opened them and glanced around, he realized he was stuck to the wall, arms and legs spread-eagle. Well, at least he could see, even if opening his eyes had been hard, but breathing was proving to be a bit difficult.

As he wondered how he was going to get out of this, the door opened with a swish and it was only cause he was already facing them that he saw them, since he was barely able to turn his head. Tony and a blonde haired teenage boy he didn’t recognize were standing there. He was super embarrassed, and also, he couldn’t breathe.

FRIDAY must have alerted Tony of this (he also couldn’t hear too well), because the man hurried over, grabbing a screwdriver on his desk to cut away the webbing covering his face. Now that he was closer he could kind of hear him. “Jesus, kid,” he grunted as he freed his nose and mouth, and Peter took in a gasping breath. “Is that better? Breathing okay?”

“Yeah,” he croaked. Peter tried to pull away from the wall, but realized he’d have to use his super strength to accomplish this, and he didn’t want to let this other boy know and possibly oust himself as Spider-Man. By then the other had reached Tony’s side, whom was taller than the man.

“Isn’t there like something to dissolve it?” he asked, eyebrows raised questionably. His dark blue eyes were almost like the deep waters of the ocean.

Peter shook his head when he realized he’d actually been seeing black spots. “Y-yeah, I think it’s in a jar in that drawer behind you.” The kid went to do that while Tony continued to cut away the webbing covering his face. His hands were shaking.

“Don’t scare me like that, Peter. I have a heart condition.”

The use of his name showed how shaken he’d been, and it was a scary thing. He’d been thrown against the wall, and that had punched out the air from his lungs. The webbing had been so thick that he couldn’t get any air in. So, Peter would have been in trouble if Tony and this other kid hadn’t come when they had.

By that time he’d managed to uncover his entire head and face, and the other had returned so he couldn’t say anything to his words. “Is this it?”

Peter had put it in a small spray can for easier administration, so it was easy for Tony to take it and spray it about three times and get him down. “The rest can dissolve in water.”

“You’ll have ta get in clothes an’ all,” the other teen said, and Peter now noticed his southern accent. It sounded nice, a real change from the usual New York accent, and Miles’s Brooklyn accent. He was wearing a black denim Harley Davidson jacket of some kind with a black hoodie under that, and some frayed blue jeans with some beat up sneakers.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he grumbled. There wasn’t enough dissolvent to get rid of all the webbing. He went to walk away and looked at him. “Um, nice to meet you. I’m Peter. P-Parker. Peter Parker,” he stuttered, feeling his face warming.

What a terrible first impression. This was almost as bad as the basketball covered in dog poop incident when he’d first met Miles. Peter just hoped this turned out alright in the end as well, and especially with him having a new friend.

“Nice to meet you, Peter Parker. I’m Harley Keener,” he said with a grin. “Hope we can become friends.”

“Sure!” he enthused, his voice breaking and making him flush even more. “I’m gonna,” he motioned toward the door.

As soon as Peter walked off, the blonde boy turned to Tony. “So, that’s the intern you’ve been raving about?”  
  
Tony sighed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s my disaster kid,” he confirmed.

Harley nodded with a hum. “So, you didn’t tell me he was super cute.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“Since he’s your kid, does that mean I’d be your son-in-law if I started dating him?”

Tony looked at him and then pointed at the door. “Get out of my lab.” Harley cackled and simply ignored him.

\- - - -  
  
When Peter came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, it was to a pile of clothes folded neatly on his bed. He didn’t have clothes in the room that Tony had dubbed as ‘his’, so they must have been Tony’s clothes. When he saw an old but well maintained MIT grey hoodie, he knew they had to be. It was warm when he pulled it over the slightly baggy shirt and pants.

If he purposefully kept it, well, Tony never asked for it back.-


	9. Harley’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter isn’t really sure what to make of Harley Keener...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really struggled with this chapter. Harley really didn’t want to be written ffs and the ending was so unexpected for me. I didn’t plan it until I was writing it.

_**The Hoodie Borrower**_  
**Chapter Nine:** _Harley’s Hoodie_  
  
\- - - -  
  
_”Oh dancing in my living room  
and up come my fists,  
and say I’m only playing  
but the truth is this  
that I’ve never seen a mouth  
that I would kill to kiss.  
And I’m terrified but I can’t resist._

_And I said beautiful stranger,  
here you are in my arms and I know  
That beautiful strangers only come  
along to do me wrong  
And I hope, beautiful stranger,  
here you are in my arms  
But I think it's finally, finally, finally,  
finally, finally safe  
For me to fall...”_

~Finally//Beautiful Stranger - Halsey  
  
\- - - -

Harley knew that life wasn’t always fair. He was smart enough to know that if he wanted to make something of himself, he was going to have to leave his small town in Tennessee. Then his tentative relationship with Tony Stark had occurred to him, and he would bring up the subject with the man despite his mom’s protests. She didn’t want to be a charity case, but Harley knew he couldn’t let pride hold him back. They were poor, Tony had more money than he knew what to do with, and he knew he was smart enough that he could be useful to him.

So, while life wasn’t fair, he had been given him the ability to better himself with his intelligence. And that’s what he would do, even if he had to ask for some help.

He called Tony Stark the next day. Almost surprisingly, he had agreed to bring him down so him and his family could spend the Thanksgiving holidays there. It was still reasonably warm and hadn’t snowed too much that didn’t clear after a day or two.

“You can meet the kid,” he said then.

This had given Harley pause, since as far as he knew, he was the only kid that Tony was involved with. Tony hadn’t offered anymore besides that, so he knew he’d have to ask questions if he wanted to know more about this ‘kid’.

“And who exactly is this kid? Have a secret love child no one knows about, Tony?”

He was quiet and feared that was the case, and knew that left him in a precarious position if that was the case. Depending on the kid’s age, Tony might be more concentrated on him and would miss what Harley had to offer. Also, if he was Tony’s son, than there was the fact that he might be saddled with a spoiled rich kid, and if there was one thing he hated, it was spoiled rich kids.

“No, you damned brat. He’s my... intern, actually,” he finally said. He heard him shuffling through some papers on his end but wasn’t too bothered about not having his full attention. The man was the head of R&D to one of the biggest technology conglomerates in the world, so he couldn’t expect anything besides a world ending event to tear him away from paperwork. “He goes to Midtown Tech. The school you didn’t think I knew you applied to behind my back.”

Harley winced and figured he should have expected to be unable to keep this from the man. He was not only one of the smartest men on the planet, but he was also Iron Man. Then what he said registered in his mind.

“Wait, you have an intern that’s in high school? Since when?” This was news to him, the fact that he had another high school level kid around, and he felt the feeling of having been replaced. Harley knew it wasn’t like that, but he had abandonment issues, damnit, and Tony should know this. The fact that he hadn’t mentioned it or tried to placate him meant that he didn’t see this kid as replacing him.

God, he hoped he didn’t expect Harley and this kid to be friends or something of the sort. Probably, since he went to the same school that Harley had applied to.

“Since none of your business, twerp.” He started to give him the information on the school after that, and even seemed enthusiastic about the whole thing. Tony hadn’t been this way five years ago when he had helped him with the Mandarin, had done everything to push him away.

Now that he was older, he got it. It had just been after the battle of New York, and he had gone through the wormhole. Who knows the things he had seen on the other side, a portal that likely led to another part of the universe too far for any human to comprehend. A whole other world where creatures existed that wanted their destruction for some reason or other.

That’s why he wanted to grow up quickly and take over as Iron Man, because he knew logically that the Chitauri or any other potential threat could come for them. Harley wanted to be able to fight alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to defend themselves.

But first, he had to make sure this other kid wasn’t a threat.

Then he met Peter Parker, and he knew he was in trouble. He was apparently super smart if he was working on Spider-Man’s tech while still in high school, and dorky. Peter Parker was the adorable kind of dorky that was totally Harley’s type.

Harley had been kidding about dating him when he teased Tony, but then Peter had come back. His hair had obviously been blow dried, and it had made his curly brown hair an unruly mess. As he came over for a proper introduction between them, he saw his face properly for the first time and he had big doe brown eyes. He was wearing Tony’s clothes and the hoodie he had on was long enough to give him sweater paws (or hoodie paws), and suddenly Harley realized he was going to ask him out for real.

“So, Peter, wanna go on a date with me?”

“Huh?”

He heard Tony drop something behind them and he resisted the urge to laugh. Harley didn’t want the other to think he was only doing it to mess with Tony. It was a added bonus, but mostly it was because Peter was pretty and totally his type.

“L-like... an actual date?”

Harley chuckled because he was just so awkward, but he was totally digging him. He must be attracted to dumbasses or something, because his hormones were reacting very positively toward Peter Parker. “Yes, an actual date. As in, just the two of us hanging out, going to the movies or grabbing a bite to eat.”

Peter’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “That sounds like what I do with Ned, Miles and MJ. Well, lately it’s just with Miles, since Ned and MJ always seem to bail on us.” He rolled his eyes as he remembered the times the other two had stood them up. “And they call me the ditcher of the group.”

Harley’s lips quirked into a smirk. “Oh, I see,” he said with a nod.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked in confusion.

The other boy paused for a moment in contemplation before he shrugged. “They’re playing matchmakers between you and this Miles. So, they either think he likes you, think you like him, or they think you like one another and are two oblivious idiots.”

Peter felt his face heating up as he sputtered through a response. “H-he doesn’t... I m-m-mean, t-they... did you call me an idiot?” he finally managed to say, sounding equal parts offended, bewildered and uncertain.

Harley burst out laughing, as he clutched his stomach. Peter felt his face heat up even more since Harley’s ocean blue eyes lit up with mirth and his grin did something strange to Peter’s insides. He’d never felt this before, at least, not for another guy and he was a bit baffled about the whole thing. Peter didn’t like other boys... right?

“That’s what you focus on? Oh damn, but you’re an adorable fool,” he sighed as he wiped his eyes. “So, since it’s obvious you’re not aware of your friend’s matchmaking efforts, how about dating me instead?”

“I d-don’t uh... I-I’m not, you know..”

“Gay?” Harley asked with an amused smile. “Well, I am gay and I’m interested in you. So, just think about it.”

Peter could only nod dumbly without meaning to, and the other gave that wide smile that sent that baffling feeling through him again and walked away. He didn’t see Tony give Harley an exasperated look as Peter gave a mumbled goodbye to them both, barely remembering to grab his backpack on the way out.

It was the seventh one May had had to buy him after all, and maybe he’d have better luck not getting it stolen this time.

As soon as he got in the elevator, he pulled his phone out and opened his messaging app. It saved all the messages without worrying about it taking up space on his phone, so he was able to go back to the first convo he had with Miles even if it had been several months ago. This wasn’t their group chat, but the chat window with only Miles. Peter had one for Ned and MJ as well. Miles had a different username then, but when it was changed, it changed even for old messages.

**Miles to go:** _Hey_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _hey!_  
**Miles to go:** _You know that music festival coming up?_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Yea, the one in central park?_  
**Miles to go:** _Did you maybe want to go?_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Yea, that sounds awesome_  
**Miles to go:** _Great!_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Oh we can have a picnic if we sit far enough away_  
**Miles to go:** _Yea, that sounds good_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Nah, wait til you try Ned’s famous cupcakes. He’s somehow transferred his science knowhow to baking_  
**Miles to go:** _I’d have to try them to see how good they are_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _I’ll tell him to bring some to the picnic_  
**Miles to go:** _What?_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _Yea, well he’s gotta bring something lol I’ll ask MJ if she wants to bring drinks_  
**Miles to go:** _Oh ok_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _I’ll bring sandwiches from Delmar’s. What kind do you like?_  
**Miles to go:** _um whatever is fine_

Peter scrolled down and saw the same thing, over and over. Miles inviting him somewhere and Peter assuming he meant for all of them to hang out. Even if he hadn’t asked in the group chat, but asked Peter specifically. “Shit,” he muttered, realizing now, months later, that Miles had been asking him out on dates. And Peter had been oblivious this whole time.

It had happened again just last week, and for the last three times they were all supposed to hang out, MJ and Ned had unexpectedly bailed on them, so it had only been Miles and Peter. So, they _had_ probably noticed that Miles was asking him out.

Although, Peter wondered why he hadn’t just been upfront and said they were dates. He wasn’t sure if he would have accepted, since Harley had been very forward and clear, and he had nodded to say he’d think about it. In all honestly, he would probably say no for now, since he had to figure out some stuff. Peter knew he liked girls, but now he had to figure out if he liked boys as well.

Ugh, this was going to be a long weekend.

\- - - -

**Nerd Squad**

**Michelle aka the boss:** _you’re acting weird Parker, stop it_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _what?? No I’m not _  
**Ned your boi:** _yess you are Peter :/ what’s up with you?_  
**Miles to go:** _what?? What’s going on? Pete’s acting weird how?_  
**Peter bee Parker:** _nothing!! she’s just reading too much into it_  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _shut it Parker _  
**Peter bee Parker:** _:(( _  
**Miles to go:** _seriously, what’s going on?_

** _Peter bee Parker is typing..._ **   
  
** _Peter bee Parker is typing..._ **

**Peter bee Parker:** _nothing is going on. really.  
I gotta go.  
_  
**_Peter bee Parker has gone offline_**

**Miles to go:** _um, was it something I said? _  
**Ned your boi:** _no _  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _yes _  
**Miles to go:** _??_

Peter groaned as he buried his face in his pillow. It had been hard not to say anything to Miles, ask him if he really had been asking him out. What if Harley was wrong? And even if he was right, Miles hadn’t outright asked him out. There was also the problem that Peter didn’t even know if he liked boys, and if he did, he wasn’t quite ready to just full out admit it or accept it.

So basically, he was having a sexuality crisis...

_Ding!_

...and one of the boys sorta responsible was messaging him on their private window. He had only turned off his online status, but he could still get messages. Peter just looked at the preview so Miles wouldn’t see he was on. He didn’t want to leave him on Read and hurt his feelings.

**Miles to go:** _Hey if I said something to offend... _

He couldn’t see the rest of the message without opening the messenger. Ugh, what should he do? He didn’t want Miles to think he was mad at him, but he also needed time to think about this. Because he realized that he had felt that feeling that was described like butterflies in the stomach when around Miles like with Harley. Only, it was more queasy, like when he felt he might hurl, but in a good way.

He was bad at metaphors, but the fact of the matter was, that he might possibly not be as straight as he’d thought (or assumed because of heteronormative) he was. It was freaking him out a little, and it had only been four days.

The weekend had indeed been long, and was spent deflecting hanging out with his friends, and having an unwanted (never thought he’d say that) lab time with Mr. Stark. He guessed it was his fault anyways, since he’d given his friends the excuse that he had interning duties with Mr. Stark and this couldn’t hang out with them. It was a lie, but he had needed time to think. However, it seemed he had jinxed himself, since the man had called and told him to come by the lab Saturday.

He hadn’t wanted to go, but at the same time, did want to go. Peter knew that Harley was likely to be there and he didn’t know if he could handle it if he tried to flirt with him. And Peter being Peter, would psychoanalysis everything as he was currently doing with all his interactions with Miles. He was trying to see if the other had flirted and Peter had been oblivious to it, and what he _could_ remember wasn’t looking good.

Peter pulled out the drawing MJ had done of him the day he had first met Miles and read the ‘oblivious idiot’ she’d written on it. It was all starting to make perfect sense now that Harley had pointed it out.

He really was an oblivious idiot.

Also, that hadn’t been the only surprise this weekend.

\- - - -

_Last Saturday_

According to Mr. Stark Peter always ‘bounced’ when he was excited, and since he loved coming to the lab, that meant he did it every time he came over for lab days. Although, he was sure he wasn’t bouncing now. In fact, he was a bit nervous, truth be told.

There was a lot of reasons for this.

First, he had felt a strange feeling like a fluttering in his chest and stomach whenever he smiled widely or laughed. He wasn’t sure if he was attracted to him, or if it was something else. Peter had never even considered this before, because due to heteronormative, he’d just assumed he was straight. So, he was kinda freaking out a bit.

Second, the more he thought of it, the more he thought that if Mr. Stark had brought Harley to his lab, that meant he was smart. He was probably come prodigal genius like Mr. Stark and Peter was, well, just Peter. There was no way he could compete with this other genius teenager.

Three, Harley had asked him out and Peter was going to see him again. He couldn’t figure out if he liked boys like that, much less think of going out on a date with one. So, he was going to turn him down, and that would certainly make things awkward from now on if the other was going to be here longer than a few days.

It was already weird enough thinking of hanging out with his friends without it being a big deal. Peter didn’t want to ambush Miles with questions on whether or not he had asked him out an actual dates. And he certainly didn’t want their other two friends to be stuck in the middle of the whole thing, regardless on if they played matchmaker or not.

So, he was definitely not doing any type of bouncing as he walked into the lab that Saturday. It was a fairly cool day, but the sun was up so he had forgone a sweater that day. Despite this, he felt a chill race up his spine as soon as he stepped into the lab and saw the other boy, clad in ripped blue jeans and a Black Sabbath t-shirt that rode up to show a slither of skin as he reached for something over his head. Peter had to look away as he felt his chest tighten and a stirring he was very familiar with, but just not having felt it caused by a guy before.

The other heard him and turned, lips pulling back in that easy grin that made heat rise in his cheeks. “Well, if it ain’t Pretty Peter,” he drawled in that southern accent.

Well, fuck.

\- - - -

“I don’t know if we should be doing this,” Peter said, voice heavy with anxiety as he bit his lip.

Harley gave that grin that had landed him in this situation, charming enough to coax the birds out of the trees. “It’ll be fine, pretty Peter. Just trust me,” he reassured, but Peter was _not_ reassured in the least.

Peter felt his face heating up again, hating the feeling of it and knowing he was likely red all the way up to his ears again. “Stop calling me that,” he grumbled. “And I _don’t_ trust you, at all. Maybe we should stop.”

The taller boy, who was at least three or five inches taller than him, gave a sharp grin. “Well, we can’t stop now,” he said with a shrug. “Come on, live a little.”

He ran a hand through his curly locks and swallowed nervously, his mouth and throat feeling dry from nerves. Whether it was from dread or anticipation, he wasn’t sure. “I-I guess we can keep going,” he hedged.

Harley gave him a reassuring pat that didn’t help to relive his anxiety. “Just relax,” he told him. Peter scowled and it just made Harley grin all the wider. “Ready?” he said as he lifted out a hand, long slender fingers reaching out.

Peter inhaled deeply and then let the breath out slowly. “Yea, okay.”

The other gave another wide grin and flipped the switch. Both of them waited, huddled close together in front of the small robot that looked to have been made out of spare Iron Man parts, if the hot rod red was any indication. “Nothing’s happening,” Peter whispered, reaching out and poking it.

Suddenly, it came on with a trill as it shook and then the thrusters they’d salvaged came alive and launched itself into the air. Harley and Peter both jumped back in reflex.

“Woah!”

“Crap!”

The little robot, which was all of four feet tall, whirled around in the air, the thrusters from the spare Iron Man arm and leg keeping it in the air. In one such turn, it caught sight of them and the face, that was made of a small parts of a broken phone screen flashed a series of emojis before flying right at them. It was issuing what they could only describe as happy chirping and both teenager scrambled back.

However, they both tried to turn in the same direction, collided and fell to the ground. Peter grunted as he fell on top of the larger boy, Harley groaning since he’d hit his head. Then he noticed their positions and gave the other a lazy grin. “Well, if ya wanted to be on top, ya just should have asked,” he said with a leer.

Before Peter could stutter a response, his face the color of a tomato, the door opened and Tony walked. “Well, this certainly isn’t something I wanted to walk in on,” Tony said.

“Mr, Stark!” Peter squawked as he scrambled off of Harley, trying to stutter an explanation. “W-we crashed into e-each other!”

Harley stood up more slowly, smirking in his mentor’s direction as Tony gave him a look. He shrugged and then glanced at their robot, wondering what he was doing over by Dum-E. They found out as it came racing over, a glass in hand which he then accidentally spilled all over Peter’s face and the front of his shirt.

Harley snorted in laughter, even as Peter glared at him, grabbed the second glass of sludge their robot brought him and splashed Harley with it.

They named their robot Thumb-E, cause they forgot to give him thumbs from the spare gauntlet parts they’d used. That’s why he kept dropping things.

\- - - -

Peter sighed as he looked at the shirt, practically swimming in it. He had thought borrowing a shirt from Harley would be better than Mr. Stark’s clothes. It seemed that wasn’t the case since he was at least two sizes bigger than Peter!

Also, he realized he had forgotten to tell Harley that he didn’t want to date him.

He left the room with a sigh, and heard his phone start to ring. It was from an unknown number. “Who could this be?” he wondered. Peter swiped to answer the call as he walked around the corner, and yelped as something landed on his head, obscuring his vision.

“What is this?” Peter yanked the piece of clothing off his head and saw it was a hoodie, a very distinctive hoodie. “Thumb-E, what’s this? Did you steal this from Harley?”

The small robot chirped happily as he flew around him, giving small twirls. On his screen a few words of text appeared. **Pop gave to papa!**

Peter was taken aback. “What? Who’s Pop?” He looked at the hoodie in his hand, which was black with a Harley Davidson logo on the front. “Do you mean Harley?”

Thumb-E chirped happily. “Do.. do you think we’re your parents?” When he chirped again, Peter groaned, knowing Harley was likely to blame for this. “Well, tell Harley thanks... he’s lucky it’s cold,” he grumbled. He was about to pull on the hoodie when he realized his phone was on. “Shit! Hello? Are you still there?”

“Pete?” A deep voice he didn’t recognize responded. “I finally convince my dad to let me come back to New York and I find you’ve gone and replaced me already?”

“Huh?” Peter pulled on the hoodie as he entered the elevator. “Who is this?”

That same voice that was vaguely familiar laughed on the other end of the call. “Ouch, forgotten already. That cuts me deep, Pete. I’m really hurt,” the voice teased.

Peter opened his mouth, not sure what to say. “Uh... I’m sorry?”

“Pete, it’s Harry... Harry Osborn.”-


	10. Peter’s Hoodie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry is stirring up some trouble, but it’s all for Peter’s well-being... and maybe a bit for his amusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how to subway stations in New York work, so bare with me. Since I’ve set it up where Harry and Peter were friends from preschool all the way to elementary school, my version of Harry Osborn is very different than the unmotivated, privileged rich kid he tends to be in the comics and movies thus far. Also, I’ve used Michael Clavane as my inspiration for Harry Osborn. The ending is an open one, so it leaves the possibility of a sequel, but I’m not saying there will be one. However, if I want to return one day to it, then it’s an open ending lol
> 
> PS: I’ve noticed that maybe some people don’t do the subscription of fics, so they’re notified when a story they like is updated. I didn’t know I could do this until like, a few months ago lol so, yeah, you can subscribe to a story, or to an author as well. Just so ya know. Enjoy the story!

**The Hoodie Borrower**  
**Chapter Ten:** _Peter’s Hoodie_

\- - - -

“_I'll face my fear of the evening_  
_Once I get used to this feeling_  
_I can't sleep_  
_That's when you're torn away from me_  
_While I'm dreaming I feel you leaving_

_I'll face my fear of the sunrise_   
_When I wake up with your hand inside mine_   
_It's hard to say good morning_   
_When it's followed with goodbye...”_

  
~Eyelids - Pvris

\- - - -  
  
_|Last Sunday|_

Peter hurried down the steps of the subway station, dodging people instinctively due to his spider sense. By now he had a really good grasp of it and at times he had to force himself not to react, like when Flash shoulder checked him. Even if these days he wasn’t as harsh as he had once been. Not since... Well, he didn’t like to think of those times.  
  
He barely was able to make it inside the train before the doors closed, making sure not to use any of his abilities due to there always being cameras down there. Peter had learned his lesson on always knowing where there were cameras after being found by Mr. Stark.  
  
After a ten minute train ride, he climbed the stairs to the station right outside Central Park. Peter wasn’t sure why he was meeting Harry here, but he’d messaged him and said for them to meet at around noon by the baseball fields. It was almost noon now and had wore an MU baseball cap, because he was a dork and loved all things Monsters Inc. It was a bit chilly even now and getting colder, so he had worn blue jeans and a long sleeved dark grey shirt.  
  
He had thought about a hoodie, but it felt nice out today, despite his inability to thermoregulate. Peter really hoped the weather didn’t take a sudden turn for the worse, which is why he’d checked and rechecked his weather amp several times. It was just that he had the worse luck and it was likely that the weather would get cold and he would be stuck without a jacket or hoodie.  
  
Peter looked around the ballfields, wondering why Harry had wanted to meet here. Actually, he really wasn’t sure how Harry looked like now. He just remembered that he had brown curly hair inherited from his mom, and he had been slender and a bit pale. Also, that he had been super rich, and still was.  
  
He’d always been the more athletic of the two, having played a bit with their peewee baseball team before moving away. He’d always felt a tremendous loss ever since Harry had left, and anger as well afterwards. Peter wanted to know why Harry hadn’t told him he was leaving, hadn’t at least said goodbye. Now here he was 5 years later, and Harry was suddenly back.  
  
“Pete!” he heard someone call his name.  
  
His head lifted and he saw someone hurried over to him, slender and taller than him, with his brown hair pinned back, but a few curly strands falling out. And holy shit, he was hot.. like, Peter was having a bi awkening and here was his estranged elementary school best friend, and he was hot and Peter was in trouble.  
  
“H-hey, Harry,” he greeted, cursing his voice as it cracked nervously.  
  
_‘Fuck, get it together, Peter. This is your best friend from fourth grade!’_  
  
He grunted as the taller boy practically bowled him over in a hug, feeling his face start to heat up. Harry pulled back with a wide grin, as he looked him over. “You look good Pete.” He released his arms and then grabbed him by the face, turning his head from one side and then to the other. “Yup, same dorky Peter Parker I remember,” he laughed.  
  
Peter scowled and batted his hands away. “Rude,” he grumbled. And then he looked up at him, squinting a bit to try and see the same Harry he remembered from fourth grade. He could just see him there, since Harry had lost any baby fat leftover, and he was definitely taller. Hell, he was at least Harley’s height, so 6 or 6’1 at the most. 

“You got tall,” Peter blurted out. He wasn’t short at 5’8, but compared to Miles, Harley and now Harry, he felt those few inches on height they all had on him.  
  
Harry laughed, his dimples showing up on his cheeks, and he remembered them very distinctly. Peter felt nostalgic, for those days when things were more simple. And sure his parents had died just before he had met Harry, but he was too young to remember a time when it wasn’t him, May and Ben. Harry had been there almost from the start, had been the only one to see the change in him after... Skip. He had been the only one outside of his aunt and uncle that he’d told what had happened.  
  
So, having Harry back in his life was a big deal for Peter.  
  
“So, what are you doing here?”  
  
“Hey, Osborn, you’re up!”  
  
Harry and Peter looked to where they were having a baseball game. Only now did he notice that Harry had the same baseball jersey as the others, and that it was a familiar jersey.  
  
“Is that a Midtown Tech Jersey?” Peter asked in confusion. The grin he gave Peter didn’t bode well. “What did you do?” He remembered the hijinks that Harry used to get them into, mostly because he’d been a privileged little shit that thought he could get away with anything. Then Peter had been dragged into his craziness and his aunt had put the fear of God into the eight year old. He hadn’t changed right away, but after two years, his Aunt May proved to be a miracle worker, and Peter (and especially their teachers) had been grateful.  
  
“Why Pete, I’m offended. All I did was get a scholarship. I would think you’d be happy for me,” Harry said dramatically, to which Peter rolled his eyes. It was almost like Harry had never left, honestly.  
  
“Yes, I’m so sad for how unfair life is to you,” he snarked back. “A handsome, rich privileged white boy.”  
  
Harry lifted a hand to his chest. “You think I’m handsome? Well, now we have to get married and have smart, rich, white privileged babies,” he said as he grabbed him. “Come on and give us a kiss then.”  
  
Peter laughed as he shoved Harry’s face away as he tried to make good on his promise to kiss him. He wasn’t sure if he was serious or just fucking with him as he usually was. It was hard to believe that he had also been super protective of him when it came to Flash. Peter wondered how Harry would react when he figured out that Flash was going to Midtown and still a bit of a jerk.  
  
After he told his team that he was out for the rest of the game, Harry dragged Peter to have lunch, which he insisted he pay for.  
  
“So, who’s Harley?”  
  
Peter choked on the forkful of food he’d been in the process of swallowing. “Wuh-**_cough_**-why are you asking?”  
  
“Is he your boyfriend?”  
  
He was glad he wasn’t eating anything this time as he barked out a nervous laugh. “W-what?! Of course not!” Peter scowled at Harry who smirked at him with an eye waggle. “He’s sorta like a fellow intern at Stark Industries.”  
  
Harry paused as he’d been about to shove a forkful of pasta in his mouth. “Wait, you’re an intern at Stark Industries?” When Peter nodded, Harry shook his head. “The sound of betrayal never sounded so close. My best friend an intern at my dad’s rival company,” he sighed, shaking his head. Then he snatched the plate of cake that Peter had ordered. “I’m taking this as punishment.”  
  
Peter gave an embarrassing squawk as he tried to pull back the piece of double chocolate cake. “Harry, come ooon!” Peter whined with a pout, hoping to convince him with his supposed puppy dog eyes. May attested to him having them, but he had never been convinced and to get double chocolate cake was a good enough reason to try it now. “Please, can I have it?”  
  
Harry cut a bite of the cake as he hummed as if thinking about it, and then turned it toward him as he reached out toward his mouth. “Alright, now say ‘ah’,” Harry said with a smirk on his handsome features that was as charming as it was devious. Honestly, Peter wondered how he was friends with this jerk.  
  
“N-No way,” Peter sputtered, feeling his face starting to heat up. He didn’t want to be fed like he was a baby, or worse still, like this was a date. This was NOT a date... right??  
  
Geez, he was freaking out now.  
  
Harry shrugged as he turned the spoon back toward his own mouth. “Fine, more for me then,” he said, lips opening to eat the piece.  
  
“Nonono, wait!” Peter exclaimed, lifting his hand out as if to stop him from eating it. “I... I hate you,” he groaned as he opened his mouth.  
  
Harry grinned and turned it back toward Peter, feeding him the piece of cake. As he did, he lifted his phone in his other hand, snapping a picture before Peter could stop him. “Now this will make the best lock screen picture.”  
  
“Harry!”  
  
The taller boy just laughed, refusing to delete the picture no matter how many times Peter demanded he do so.  
  
\- - - -  
  
Ned and MJ in their respective homes were baffled when they received a friend request from someone named THE Harry Osborn  
  
**THE Harry Osborn:** _Hey, I got your names from Peter’s phone_  
**Ned your boi:** _huh?_  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _who the hell are you?_  
**THE Harry Osborn:** _Harry Osborn. I use to go to school with Peter in elementary_  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _Yeah? Why should we care?_  
**Ned your boi:** _You’re the Harry Peter told me about!_  
**THE Harry Osborn:** _Yes, I’m that Harry, and you should care cause as Peter’s other friends, it’s our job to fuck with him... and make sure this Harley dude is serious about Peter, and not just after an easy lay._  
**Ned your boi:** _Harley? Don’t you mean Miles?_  
**THE Harry Osborn:** _Who the hell is Miles?!_  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _Who the hell is Harley?_  
**THE Harry Osborn:** _I’ll tell you what, you tell me who Miles is, and I’ll tell you about Harley Keener._  
  
_Ned your boi is typing...._  
  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _You got a deal_  
  
_Ned your boi is typing...._  
  
**Ned your boi:** _MJ! We don’t know who this guy is!_  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _You said it yourself, Leeds. Peter told you he had a friend named Harry in elementary school_  
**Ned your boi:** _Yeah, but he never said anything about it being Harry Osborn. What if he’s just trying to use us against him for some reason?_  
**Michelle aka the boss:** _No offense to Parker, but what could Harry Osborn possibly want from Peter?_  
**Ned your boi:** _Exactly! He could be someone else posing as Harry Osborn!_  
  
**THE Harry Osborn:** [Pic of Harry and Peter taking a selfie]  
  
**THE Harry Osborn:** _So, who's Miles?_  
  
  
\- - - -  
_|Present day (Wednesday morning)|_  
  
Peter huffed as he got a message from Harry, telling him they were having breakfast and to meet him in the upper east end of Manhattan. If he hadn’t been Spider-Man, his aunt might have likely forbidden him to go all the way out there. As it was, he decided to swing over since he woke up late and he knew Harry would be a jerk about it.  
  
“Oh, after so long of being apart, you’re late to our second outing. For shame, Parker,” he mimicked as he swung from one skyscraper to the next one.  
  
_’Did you said something, Peter?’_ KAREN asked him in her voice that always soothes him to hear it. Now, however, it made him jump since he wasn’t expecting it. Luckily, he didn’t let go of the web. Of course he’d catch himself, but he didn’t want Mr. Stark to be alerted of his heart rate elevating rapidly.  
  
He waved at a few civilians that yelled his name, seeing as they filmed him swinging past, and knew he’d have to be careful that no one filmed him unmasking. The last thing he needed was someone revealing his secret identity to the world. So, he crawled down the side of a water tank when a huge black cloud covered the sun, threatening rain. He hopped down, checked with his enhanced senses for any cameras, and then pressed the symbol on the front of his suit to loosen it.  
  
Peter looked down on the loose suit and thought maybe he should ask Mr. Stark about changing the deactivation switch to something less obvious. He didn’t want to be in a fight and have the bad guy get a lucky shot on and deactivate his suit accidentally. Peter shook his head as he quickly got his clothes on after shoving the suit inside his backpack, all the way on the bottom of the bag, imagining someone purposely hitting the switch during a fight. He was only grateful that the mask wasn’t attached to the suit.  
  
He pulled on his clothes quickly, shivering from the cool air and was so glad he’d thought to bring a hoodie. As he pulled it out, he blinked as he recognized it as the one Miles had lent him a few months ago. Maybe he should return it to him, since he was pretty sure exchanging clothes was a part of dating, and he was definitely not dating Miles.  
  
Well, he had sort of gone on dates with him, even if they’d been sneakily set up by their friends, so they were unofficial dates. Peter hadn’t purposefully gone on dates with him, hadn’t meant to lead him on...  
  
_‘Whoa, Parker, calm down,’_ he chastised himself, pulling on the hoodie that didn’t smell like Miles anymore as it had the first time he’d put it on. At the time he had thought it smelled nice, so did that mean he thought Miles smelled nice?  
  
“Shit,” he grumbled, slinging his backpack onto his shoulder. He looked around a moment and when he didn’t see anyone, or any cameras filming the alley below, he hopped down to the ground floor from the four story building with ease. Before he’d had trouble making the jump, but he had practiced over and over again, resulting in many bruises and a contusion or two that hurt almost as much as a broken bone, but he’d done it.  
  
Peter hurried out of the alleyway and down the street to where they were supposed to meet, in front of a coffee shop. He wondered why they were meeting in a coffee shop and not a regular restaurant. Hell, he’d be satisfied with some biscuits from McDonald’s. Although, with his new metabolism, he knew it’d take about eight or ten of them to satisfy him. Damnit, he hated being so poor.  
  
He spotted Harry in front of the coffee shop, holding a cup carrier with two coffees (he assumed) and a big bag filled, hopefully, with some muffins of some kind. Peter smelled them before he got close enough for a normal human to smell them and felt his mouth start to water. He’d ate some pop tarts on the way over (and he felt accomplished that he hadn’t dropped either of them on the swing here), but that was a drop in the large bucket that was his stomach. The increased metabolism was the worse part of his powers, well, that and his inability to thermoregulate.  
  
“Hey, what’re you doing? I thought we were eating inside?” Peter said, itching to get into that bag. He could smell the tantalizing aroma even more now, and he’d been right, they were muffins. Also, judging by the size of the bag, there had to be at least eight in there.  
  
“Nah, we’re going somewhere else. Here, hold this,” he said as he handed him the coffees while he took out his phone, to Peter’s utter disappointment. He’d have opened the bag and devoured a muffin immediately. Although, now that he had the coffees in his hand, he realized one smelled strongly of chocolate and caramel.  
  
Peter immediately drank of that one, not even bothering to ask if it was his first. The first sip was heaven and tasted so much of chocolate and caramel, and some cinnamon, which he wasn’t expecting. He was seriously about to have a chocolate orgasm, and he wouldn’t be able to face Harry again.  
  
“Good?”  
  
Peter lifted his face to look at the taller boy, scowling as he saw that smirk again. “I’m glad I made the right choice. From yesterday, you’re obviously a chocoholic, and I remember chocolate milk was your favorite drink in elementary. So, I figured you’d love a chocolate caramel frappuccino with a dash of cinnamon.”  
  
A car suddenly pulled up to the curb, and the driver hopped out, jogged around to open the door. Harry flashed the driver a thankful smile before he slid into the back, and Peter quickly got in when the driver gave him a questioning look. The last time he’d been taken by a driver was when Happy had driven him to the compound, so he felt super awkward sitting back there with Harry.  
  
Finally, Harry handed him the bag, taking his own coffee, and Peter practically tore open the bag. He was disappointed when there were only four muffins inside, but they were huge. Also, Harry only ate one, so that left three for them. “Geez, Pete, you eat like a person twice your size.”  
  
Peter’s mouth was stuffed full of the second muffin, so he could only shrug. When he was finished with the third one, and most of the frappuccino, did he finally notice that he had no idea where they were going. “Uh, so, where are we going?”  
  
Harry had been sipping his coffee, one leg crossed over the other, and he looked far older than he really was. Harry was almost a year older than him, but due to having an overprotective mother, he’d started school a year late. So, while he was almost seventeen now, he looked more like he could be twenty. Harry didn’t dress like a teenager, so that was probably why he looked older.  
  
He set his coffee cup on the drinks stand between them, the backseat obviously expanded for better comfort. “Well, I figured it was time to meet my rivals, don’t you think?” he asked, eyebrow raised.  
  
Peter was confused. “What? R-Rivals?,” he sputtered, feeling his face starting to heat up.  
  
Before he could say anything more, Harry looked out the window. “Oh, look, it’s snowing,” he commented. Peter looked outside, and sure enough, it was snowing very lightly.

“Huh, not rain then,” Peter muttered, since he had thought the cloud earlier had been a rain cloud. He really should have checked the forecast before he left. Peter wasn’t looking forward to swinging back in this, and might play it safe and take the normal way back, maybe. His inability to thermoregulate would likely force his hand.  
  
“Well, you’re gonna need a better coat.” He pulled a bag from the other seat by opening the top part of it. From it he pulled out what appeared to be a fuzzy brown hoodie, there was no mistaking it since he could sort of see that it had a hood, but it zipped up from the front like the one he was wearing.

“Here, I bought you this,” Harry suddenly said with that grin he was starting to distrust, since it was devious. Well, it did look pretty warm, so he took it and put it on. Iit was big enough to go over Miles’s hoodie, so that was a plus. Peter sighed in relief as he started to warm up, since he hadn’t noticed that he’d been shivering slightly.  
  
They pulled up to Central Park a few mins later, and it was starting to snow a bit harder. It didn’t seem to dissuade the people at the park, since there were several of them out and about. As they got out, Harry’s driver pulled out umbrella from the truck that he handed to Harry. The younger man opened it and held it out.  
  
“You’ll have to come a bit closer to share this,” he said with a raised eyebrow.  
  
Peter rolled his eyes and pulled up his hood. “I thought that’s why you got me this?”  
  
Harry’s top lip twitched up as if he wanted to smile, but he didn’t. “Just get under here, Parker. Stop being stubborn,” he said, dragging the smaller boy closer. Peter grumbled but let him do as he wanted, practically pressed to his side and concentrating on trying to keep from spontaneously combusting on the spot.  
  
So, maybe he _was_ attracted to boys. He just had to remember that this was Harry, his _friend_. He was off limits despite his sudden gay panic (or bisexual panic?). Peter had to keep his head...  
  
Harry wrapped his arm around his waist and Peter’s thought process went out the window as an undignified squeak left him. “Harry,” he grumbled, feeling the heat in his cheeks like a tingling. “C-can you let-“  
  
“Peter?”  
  
Peter‘s head lifted, and was confused (and horrified) to see Miles of all people standing in front of them. Behind him, MJ and Ned were glancing over his shoulder with twin expressions of amusement that led him to believe that they were somehow responsible for this.  
  
“Well, this looks like a party,” a southern voice drawled behind them. Peter whipped around, pulling away from Harry in the process, and saw Harley there. “Here I thought you said you weren’t gay, pretty Peter?” Harley inquired with a raised eyebrow, lips quirking into a smirk. “Nice ears by the way.”  
  
Miles and the other two were busying looking at Peter’s head, having noticed the ears on the hood of the hoodie he was wearing. When he’d turned around to look at Harley, they’d noticed that it also had a round little tail at the end of the coat. All and all, they guessed it was supposed to be a bear hoodie.  
  
“Oh good, you’re all here,” Harry said, yanking a protesting Peter against him. Peter had been busying feeling the offending ears that he couldn’t avoid the other boy’s hand (never mind his Spidey sense, since he didn’t see Harry as a threat), so stumbled into him, causing the taller boy to wrap his arm around his waist. “I’m back in town, so I’ve decided to come out and confront my rivals.” He ducked down and kissed a shocked Peter on the cheek. “Peter’s mine, so neither of you can have him.”  
  
“Harry!” Peter shrieked, his face and cheeks flushed red.  
  
MJ had whipped out a camera almost as soon as they’d walked up, so got the whole thing on video. Miles looked ready to lunge at Harry (and might have if Peter wasn’t currently pressed to his side), and Harley was grinning madly as he made eye contact with Harry.  
  
“Oh, you’re on, city boy,” the southern boy said, brushing off snow flakes from his hair and coat. Harley had barely known Peter two days, but he already liked what he had seen. He wasn’t going to let some friend from Peter’s past win. Also, now that he’d gotten a good look at Miles, he had to admit that it’d be tough going, since he was good looking as well. He was confident that he’d win though, since Miles didn’t seem a straightforward kind of guy, and Harley was.  
  
“I’m not going to lose,” Miles growled, forgetting that Peter didn’t know he had been trying to ask him out. He had to work hard at keeping his powers in check, seeing as some of the snow started to melt from his venom strike forming in his hands. The Afro-Latino boy knew it’d be wrong to attack someone that had no powers, since Miles had decided he wanted to be a superhero. He wondered what Peter would think if he knew he could potentially be a hero. Would it increase his chances?  
  
He quickly forgot about it, since he wanted to win Peter over because he liked him, not because he had superpowers. And Miles was serious about not losing, and knew it was time to stop being subtle and just come right out and say he wanted to date Peter.  
  
Ned, meanwhile, was trying hard not to burst into giggles as he watched his friend stutter a reply. “You think any of them realize that Harry’s straight, and he’s just fucking with them?”  
  
MJ snorted. “I doubt it, and I’m not going to make it easy on them.” She zoomed in on Peter’s face, a smirk on her lips. “Besides, this is much too hilarious to ruin.” She put two fingers to her mouth and gave a whistle. “Hey, how about a group picture?”  
  
“Michelle, stop trying to record my misery!” Peter whined. The other three ignored him and stood in a row, Harley, Harry, Miles, and Peter in front of Harry. He was short enough that they could see over his head, which MJ found even funnier.

It seemed Harry was the latest addition of the Loser’s club, and MJ felt like this the start of a beautiful friendship.

“Dude! Why is everyone here? Is that Penis Parker?!” Another voice chimed in. MJ was hard pressed not to giggle when she saw Harry spot Flash, brown eyes narrowing on the bully, since it would ruin her reputation. She really wanted to as all three boys turned to look at Flash at the derogatory nickname.

Ned has no qualms as he giggled madly, eager to see the bully (who had admittedly backed off some) get what was coming to him.

“Are those ears??”

The Samoan boy was so glad Harry Osborn had come back to New York. Although, he wasn’t sure if Peter felt the same way after this. Well, he’d come around.

Maybe.-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the end! I can’t say I didn’t want to write more of this story. However, I knew if I let it get away from me, it’d wind up a monster and I had only planned to have ten chapters. Harry just added more drama at the end than I was willing to write out. Honestly, my version of Harry is such a showboat, and loves to torment his best friend, even if he would pummel anyone else trying to do the same. Hope y’all enjoyed this story, I know I loved writing it.
> 
> Look to my [**tumblr**](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/name-me-regret).


	11. [Art for story]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Art for story.

This is art for the story done by the lovely [eminkw](https://www.instagram.com/eminkw/), well, the link since I can’t add pictures without a something like photobucket without having to pay a subscription. The art is on my tumblr account [HERE](https://name-me-regret.tumblr.com/post/630608076916113408/these-are-the-best-art-yet-by-eminkw-from-my). Hope y’all like the art. Let me know! 😊🥰🤗🙃

**Author's Note:**

> My Instagram: [@phiodmuse](https://www.instagram.com/phiodmuse/)  

> 
> My Tumblr: [@name-me-regret](https://name-me-regret.tumblr.com/)


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